Environmental Interventions to Promote Healthy Eating: A Review of Models, Programs, and Evidence

Abstract

Environmental interventions are an important part of efforts to improve health in populations. With respect to strategies to encourage positive nutrition behavior, environmental approaches help create opportunities for action by removing barriers to following a healthy diet. This article reviews the rationale, conceptual models, program examples, and recent empirical evidence regarding the extent and effects of environmental interventions to promote healthy eating. The state of the art is described for five types of interventions: (1) changes in the food supply; (2) point of choice nutrition information; (3) collaboration with private sector food vendors; (4) worksite nutrition policies and incentives; and (5) changes in the structure of health and medical care related to nutrition. Environmental approaches to dietary behavior change can reach large segments of the population through increased availability of nutritious foods, provision of quality nutrition services in workplace and health care settings, and accessible information about healthful food choices. Nutrition intervention can also serve as a model for other types of health promotion initiatives using multidimensional environmental and educational technologies.

Perceived barriers of, and benefits to, healthy eating reported by a Spanish national sample

“…For all those involved in nutrition education or food policy issues it is a priority to determine the barriers that the general public may have or perceive they have when trying to eat healthier diets and the personal benefits that they expect in relation to eating more healthily 17 .…”

"Eat for Health": a supermarket intervention for nutrition and cancer risk reduction.

“…Evaluations of the few programs with evaluation components have shown mixed results, with some improvement in knowledge and attitudes and modest, if any, changes in behavior. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] In March 1987, the National Cancer Institute (NC), one of the National Institutes of Health, launched a 2-year multicomponent supermarket intervention in cooperation with Giant Food Inc, a major supermarket chain in the Washington, DC-Baltimore, Md, area. The "Eat for Health" program was intended to stimulate changes in knowledge and food purchasing behavior consistent with NCI's dietary recommendations for cancer risk reduction.…”

A pricing strategy to promote low-fat snack choices through vending machines.

“…[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Perhaps the most impressive of these studies in magnitude of effect was a recent cafeteria-based study that examined pricing and availability influences on food choice. '4 Prices of fruit and salad were reduced by 50%, and the number of fruit and salad items available was increased.…”