Policies influencing the provision of healthy food and drinks in local government‐owned sport and recreation facilities in Victoria, Australia

Riesenberg, Devorah; Blake, Miranda; Boelsen‐Robinson, Tara; Peeters, Anna; Cameron, Adrian J.

doi:10.1111/1753-6405.12988

Cited by 11 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…In short, the indications are that consultation with planning departments, and participation in formal and informal periodic meetings with all levels of management is essential for understanding the nature of how Councils operate and, importantly, how SWSLHD can be part of the engagement process. This is consistent with the recommendations of other studies, which suggest that Local Government is an underutilised resource in the context of effective and e cient population health planning (2,3,6,17).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…The suggestion that the way we design our environment has implications for our health is not a new proposition, but it is one that is worthy of serious re ection. The volume of literature published on the topic in the last decades is considerable (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7), highlighted the need for strong collaborative partnerships between public health and planning professionals. Skills-sharing and co-investment in research and innovation have become crucial in the delivery of those bene ts which allow communities to ourish and ful l their potential.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Towards An Effective Collaboration Between South Western Sydney Local Health District and Local Councils: Insights From The Qualitative Study

Kovai¹,

Mahjabeen

Arjunan³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Background Urban planning is of fundamental use in promoting a healthy urban environment, prompting increased collaboration between public health and local government planning authorities. A major challenge to the success of this co-operation, however, is the difficulty of ensuring that the views of the health sector are, ultimately, reflected in planning policy. To facilitate this, a qualitative study was designed by Population Health, South Western Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD) in 2016. Objective The aim of the study was to investigate ways in which SWSLHD could be engaged with councils in the urban planning processes of local councils in south-western Sydney to promote a healthy urban environment. Methods Qualitative data was collected from 14 in-depth interviews with staff representing five local councils: Bankstown, Camden, Liverpool, Campbelltown, and Fairfield. The data was thematically analysed using inductive and deductive reasoning by applying NVivo software. Results While councils recognise the potential value of consultation (and partnership) with SWSLHD, the fact is that the status quo is one of limited communication and the absence of any clearly defined process for collaboration. Councils perceive knowledge gaps in relation to basic issues such as who provides what services to whom and how to access services from health experts related to evidence based local government level data. Implications: The study demonstrated that a shift in provision of public health evidence that has local applicability in a timely manner on issues of mutual concern, and proactive and ongoing consultations between SWSLHD and councils would enable effective engagement, coordinated and sustained actions.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards An Effective Collaboration Between South Western Sydney Local Health District and Local Councils: Insights From The Qualitative Study

Kovai¹,

Mahjabeen

Arjunan³

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In short, the indications are that consultation with planning departments, and participation in formal and informal periodic meetings with all levels of management is essential for understanding the nature of how Councils operate and, importantly, how Local Health Districts can be part of the engagement process. This is consistent with the recommendations of other studies, which suggest that Local Government is an underutilised resource in the context of effective and e cient population health planning (3,4,7,25). Furthermore, Federal Government policies and guidelines typically fail to provide clear recognition of the values of collaboration with non-health sectors and instruction on how best to engage (7).…”

Section: Regular Ongoing and Proactive Communicationsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…The suggestion that the way we design our environment has implications for our health is not a new proposition, but it is one that is worthy of serious re ection. The volume of literature published on the topic in the last decades is considerable (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8), highlighted the need for strong collaborative partnerships between public health and planning professionals. Skills-sharing and co-investment in research and innovation have become crucial in the delivery of those bene ts which allow communities to ourish and ful l their potential.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards an Effective Collaboration Between South Western Sydney Local Health District and Local Councils: Insights from the Qualitative Study

Kovai¹,

Mahjabeen

Jalaludin

2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Urban planning is of fundamental use in promoting a healthy urban environment, prompting increased collaboration between public health and local government planning authorities. A major challenge to the success of this co-operation, however, is the difficulty of ensuring that the views of the health sector are, ultimately, reflected in planning policy. To facilitate this, a qualitative study was designed by Population Health, South Western Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD) in 2016. Objective The aim of the study was to understand and help improving the effectiveness of collaboration between local governments and public health sector. Methods Qualitative data was collected from 14 in-depth interviews with staff representing five local councils: Bankstown, Camden, Liverpool, Campbelltown, and Fairfield. The data was thematically analysed using inductive and deductive reasoning by applying NVivo software. Results While councils recognise the potential value of consultation (and partnership) with SWSLHD, the fact is that the status quo is one of limited communication and the absence of any clearly defined process for collaboration. Councils perceive knowledge gaps in relation to basic issues such as who provides what services to whom and how to access services from health experts related to evidence based local government level data. Implications: The study demonstrated that a shift in provision of public health evidence that has local applicability in a timely manner on issues of mutual concern, and proactive and ongoing consultations between SWSLHD and councils would enable effective engagement, coordinated and sustained actions. As the concerns raised in this study about the need for practical information on effective interventions and impact of social determinants of health echo the findings from studies that were conducted in other local government settings of Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales, the study findings may be applied to other councils beyond the SWSLHD.

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“…An increased availability of healthier food and drink in these settings has been shown to result in increased sales of healthier options. 2 We are aware of only a small number of studies exploring LG policy focusing on healthy food promotion to support obesity prevention [11][12][13][14][15][16] Policy documents from six LG websites in one Australian state (New South Wales (NSW)) were found to promote healthy eating, cooking and food production skills. 13 However, these policies did not specifically…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Local government policies on healthy food promotion and obesity prevention: results from a national Australian survey

Riesenberg

Blake

Boelsen‐Robinson

et al. 2022

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health

Self Cite

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Objective: Local governments (LGs) often own or manage sport and recreation facilities and can promote health in these settings by implementing healthy food policies. The primary aim of this study was to assess the policies, attitudes and practices of Australian LGs relating to obesity prevention and the provision of healthy food in this setting. Methods: In July 2020, all 539 Australian LGs were invited to complete a survey. We assessed LG priorities to obesity prevention, promoting healthy eating and public health as well as the presence of healthy food policies in sporting facilities. Results: 203 (38%) LGs completed the survey. Improving public health was a high priority, while obesity prevention and promoting healthy eating were a medium priority. 22% of LGs reported that the priority given to promoting healthy food had increased over the previous year and stayed the same at 65%. Ten per cent of LGs had a healthy food and drink policy in sporting facilities, with 32% reporting having made changes without a policy. LGs located in major cities, with larger populations and with more facilities reported having made more healthy changes at their facilities. Conclusion: Promoting health is a priority for LGs across Australia, but very few have policies relating to the food environments in their sporting facilities. Implications for public health: Ongoing monitoring is important to assess changes over time and identify LGs where greater support is required.

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Policies influencing the provision of healthy food and drinks in local government‐owned sport and recreation facilities in Victoria, Australia

Cited by 11 publications

References 13 publications

Towards An Effective Collaboration Between South Western Sydney Local Health District and Local Councils: Insights From The Qualitative Study

Towards An Effective Collaboration Between South Western Sydney Local Health District and Local Councils: Insights From The Qualitative Study

Towards an Effective Collaboration Between South Western Sydney Local Health District and Local Councils: Insights from the Qualitative Study

Local government policies on healthy food promotion and obesity prevention: results from a national Australian survey

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