Creating supportive eating places: a systematic review of food service initiatives

Abstract

Summary Obesity and diet-related health problems are complex, multi-factorial issues. Individual food choices are shaped by the wider context, and food environment level change is needed to support individual behaviour change. The food service sector can play an integral role, changing aspects of the food environment and contributing to improved consumer health. This systematic review aimed to analyse food service schemes that aimed to improve consumer health. Ten electronic databases were systematically searched to identify articles, supplemented with checking of reference lists from similar reviews and forward and backward searches to identify articles describing food service sector schemes. Sixteen schemes were identified, documented in 36 articles/reports. The schemes aimed to improve consumer health through one of three approaches—informing, enabling or engineering. In this order, these approaches involved increasing levels of effort from food services, corresponding with decreasing levels of effort for consumers. Half the schemes were informing, relying on an informed consumer to make a healthy choice. Most informing schemes had been evaluated to determine their impact on consumer choice and/or health, the evidence showed these schemes were generally ineffective. The effect of the enabling or engineering schemes on consumer choice and health had not been measured. Instead, evaluations focussed on process or business engagement rather than behavioural change assessments. This review indicates the food sector has the potential to contribute to consumer health through enabling and engineering; however, detailed outcome assessments are needed to draw definitive conclusions.

Barriers and facilitators to implementation of healthy food and drink policies in public sector workplaces: a systematic literature review

“…The aim of this systematic literature review was to identify the barriers and facilitators to implementation of and compliance with healthy food and drink policies for the general adult population in public sector workplaces. Because food environments designed to enable healthy choices are a promising food service initiative, 85 the results of this review will benefit all stakeholders involved in workplace health promotion. The findings indicate that the introduction of healthy food and drink policies is necessary to initiate and drive actions to make organizational food environments healthier, with the policy acting as a reference document and agreed upon standards.…”

Proximal and distal influences on dietary change among a diverse group with prediabetes participating in a pragmatic, primary care nurse-led intervention: a qualitative study

“…1) is supportive food environments, within which the personal, interpersonal and organisational variables are nested. The importance of supportive food environments when attempting to make dietary changes cannot be underestimated (46) . It is likely that participants in this study described more fully the proximal personal, interpersonal and healthcare provider influences, as they were more readily recognised than the distal more complex social, environmental and policy factors.…”

“Just So You Know, It Has Been Hard”: Food Retailers’ Perspectives of Implementing a Food and Nutrition Policy in Public Healthcare Settings

“…In addition, external validity assessment of food provision that is compliant with mandated policies or voluntary guidelines would assist in building confidence in their ability to support healthy dietary patterns consistent with government guidelines. The impact of healthy food procurement policies on the food choice and dietary intake of target populations [54] and the economic impact of compliance on food retailers is also currently unknown.…”