Around the world and here at home, people are working on ways to help consumers make healthier choices and on figuring out what sometimes prevents them from doing just that. What follows are summaries of key studies that look at the many facets of this fascinating issue: from what kinds of communications strategies work best to what priorities to focus on first, the results of the research are useful to anyone looking to bring healthier food choices into their facilities.
You can read the summaries below. Then use the box at right to download the resources you're interested in.
Reversing the
Environmental factors (including lack of access to full-service grocery stores, increasing costs of healthy foods and the lower cost of unhealthy foods, and lack of access to safe places to play and exercise) all contribute to the increase in obesity rates by inhibiting or preventing healthy eating and active living behaviors.
Recommended strategies and appropriate measurements are needed to assess the effectiveness of community initiatives to create environments that promote good nutrition and physical activity. This report presents 24 recommended strategies for obesity prevention and a suggested measurement for each strategy that communities can use to assess performance and track progress over time.
Adult obesity rates increased in 23 states and did not decrease in a single state in the past year, according to F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America 2009 a report released by the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). In addition, the percentage of obese or overweight children is at or above 30 percent in 30 states.
"Our health care costs have grown along with our waist lines," said Jeff Levi, Ph.D., executive director of TFAH. "The obesity epidemic is a big contributor to the skyrocketing health care costs in the United States. How are we going to compete with the rest of the world if our economy and workforce are weighed down by bad health?"
This report serves as a report card on obesity trends by state and provides several key recommendations for action at the federal, state and local government levels.
You can download the executive summary from the box to the upper right. To read the entire report, visit F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America 2009
This study highlights the importance of clear communications: a lack of clear information is what prevents many British Columbians from making healthier diet choices. The study reveals that the prime barrier to “taking action” is the misperception that healthy food is too expensive and that exercise is always too time consuming. The report reviews what causes “information clutter,” and suggests how to avoid using confusing, misinformed or competing messages.
This report by the Prophet Media Group provides valuable insights into the strategies, tactics and costs of one community's campaign to promote active living and healthy lifestyle choices. It reveals that message reinforcement — using a variety of locations — is key to awareness and behavior change. The community found it worked best to place banners and signs where they don't attract vandalism. And they also found innovative ways to save money: using coroplast as a flexible, inexpensive alternative to white boards, for example.
Dollars and Sense: The Financial Impact of Selling Healthier School FoodsThis brief overview outlines initiatives taken in the State of California to address childhood obesity issues. In 2007, the state regulated the sale of competitive food and beverage items in schools, legally requiring all products to meet nutritional guidelines. Schools found that directly involving students, the consumers, in changing the food environment resulted in greater sales of healthy items. And found that when more meals and fewer snack foods were made available, food service revenues increased; 65% of schools in the study experienced more than a five percent increase in overall revenue.
This toolkit gives facilities concrete resources and information to help them in marketing their Active Communities initiatives using the media, public relations, advertising and website promotion. It provides guides on how to pitch a story idea — using the hook, sell and close approach, and how to build an ad that works — using size, headlines and visuals for maximum impact. It's also a guide to using SMART objectives (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time). Many of the same principles and practices can also be used to expand the marketing of Stay Active Eat Healthy beyond just the initial materials.
This study looks ahead at Canadian food and beverage consumption to the year 2020 and provides valuable insight into consumer trends. By 2020, for example, there will be fewer children in Canada than 2004. Consumers will be even more disconnected from food preparation, and if existing patterns continue, there will be more prepared foods and takeout. But the study also shows Canadians are becoming more educated label readers and are seeking to more actively manage their health and prevent disease, and that by 2020, brand choice will become less of a status symbol and more about expression of individualism. The report looks at developing opportunities for domestic agriculture and the agri-food sector, given these trends.
This brief overview provides background information on a healthy food choices initiative undertaken in two pilot arenas in southern Ontario. Early results show that patrons have been very receptive to healthy food options and these menu items often sell out. As for what motivated consumers to purchase specific items, convenience topped the list (73%) followed by cost (13%), freshness (8%) and volume or size (6%). Currently, the top five items purchased (from most to least) are: coffee, tea, pop and sport drinks, French fries, chips and popcorn.
This study done by Strottman International Inc. provides valuable insights into the way kids perceive issues related to healthy eating, sickness and disease and obesity. For example, kids care about making a healthy food choice only “for Mom's sake” and not necessarily for “health's sake” (63% said eating healthy food “will make mom/dad happy”). It also reported which stereotypes prevail: children strongly associate overweight body figures with kids who are picked on, but rank sedentary lifestyle and obesity low in “dangerousness” compared to wearing a seatbelt or smoking.
This commentary by the Eldorado County Health Officer provides a compelling argument for employers to consider the benefits of providing healthy food and beverage choices where products are available for sale through vending machines. In short, the report finds that cleaning out junk foods from workplace vending machines will improve the bottom line: healthier workers are absent less. So the report says it's time for employers to do their part to address the obesity issue, which is the number one driver of the rising incidence of chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, stoke and cancer.
This U.K. report produced by the Soil Association and Organix (a food company that campaigns to raise standards in the quality of food fed to children) provides an important industry perspective. The report reveals a “shocking disconnection” between the aspirations of policies on health eating and the kind of food and drink for sale in hospitals and sports centres across England and Wales. The Soil Association and Organix conclude that “Hospitals and sports centres should be beacons of best practice, where good food is readily available and healthy eating messages are communicated to the public.”
This 2002 report published by the Health Education Trust in the U.K., describes a study designed to investigate the economic viability of providing healthier drink alternatives in school-based vending machines in 12 schools. For both suppliers and retailers, the report contains important business information regarding sales and profitability. Five things made the difference in cases where schools were commercially successful: the location of vending machines — that they were easy to supervise and stock; machine/ product harmony — a good match between the characteristics of the machine and product it provides; staff commitment to the benefits of healthier food choices for kids; customer education; and monitoring product sales and maintaining stocks of healthy choice items.
New Scientist November 11, 2009
Alcohol and sport make unhappy bedfellows and sports sponsorship by drinks companies should be banned, say a group of public health researchers.
In the latest issue of Addiction (DOI: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2009.02711.x), Kerry O'Brien at the University of Manchester, UK, and his colleagues claim that alcohol sponsorship tarnishes the image of sport and harms athletes' health. They have previously found that such sponsorship – which often includes free drinks – is linked to alcohol problems in athletes.
Instead, O'Brien suggests that governments increase tax on booze and use the proceeds to generate a general sports fund.
