Interventions and policies aimed at improving nutrition in Small Island Developing States: a rapid review

Abstract

Objective. To describe features of nutritional interventions implemented in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the past 20 years. Methods. A rapid scoping review was conducted by searching PubMed and Web of Science databases for interventions conducted in SIDS that sought to improve the nutrition of their populations between 2000 and 2019 inclusive. The Noncommunicable diseases progress monitor 2020 was also examined to assess nutritional policies in SIDS. Results. A total of 174 interventions were implemented in 49 of the 58 SIDS. The greatest proportion were conducted in the Caribbean (75 interventions; 43%), with the Pacific region, and the Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean and South China Sea region each implementing about 30% of interventions. Using the NOURISHING framework, most interventions (67%) were implemented at the community and national or policy level, using multiple components of the framework. The greatest proportion of interventions (35%) were educational and awareness raising. Restrictions on physical availability of and increased taxation on alcohol were the most commonly reported policies that were partially or fully achieved; restrictions on fats were the least commonly reported. These findings were generally consistent across the SIDS regions. Conclusions. There is a paucity of nutritional policies in SIDS; the reasons may be linked to their social, economic, and environmental vulnerabilities. Interventions should be expanded beyond education to encompass multiple components of the NOURISHING framework, with multisectoral inclusion to ensure stronger stakeholder collaboration and buy-in. A systematic review is warranted using a fuller range of sources to assess the effectiveness of interventions.

Food insecurity is associated with poor hypertension management in the Eastern Caribbean

“…Evidence shows a positive relationship among women 32,33 but not men, which may complicate hypertension management among women with FI. 34 The current findings are generalizable to populations represented in the ECHORN sites and have several implications. The high burden of FI across the region and the demonstrated association with poor blood pressure control suggests an urgent need for policy and healthcare system interventions.…”

“…A recent review of nutrition interventions and policies in the small island developing states, including those in the Caribbean, highlighted the paucity of nutrition policies in the region and the overall low proportion of states where policies were fully implemented. 35…”

Improving household nutrition security and public health in the CARICOM, 2018–2022

“…Details of the research findings are presented in other papers in this supplement (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15). were conducted using different tax and/or subsidy scenarios to identify the optimal levels and/or types of fiscal interventions to effect change in dietary patterns.…”

“…Rapid scoping review of food system interventions in small island developing states. To determine the potential effectiveness and impact of food system interventions in small island developing states a rapid scoping review was conducted, searching MEDLINE (via PubMed) and Web of Science (via Clarivate) from January 1, 2000 to June 31, 2019, for interventions to improve nutrition of human populations conducted in small island developing states (13). The 2020 WHO Noncommunicable Diseases Progress Monitor was also examined to assess nutritional policies in small island developing states (13,19).…”

“…The aim of this paper is to describe the overall design and implementation of this project, discuss challenges and limitations, and present its core achievements. Other papers published in this special issue on improving household nutrition security and public health in CARICOM describe project findings and provide details on the relevant methodologies (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15).…”