New research aims to overcome structural barriers for effective food environment policies. For many people, healthy eating is not the easy choice, because our food environment promotes unhealthy options. The new PREMIER-CVD consortium, led by APH & ACS researcher dr. Joreintje Mackenbach-van Es (Amsterdam UMC) and prof. dr. Frank van Lenthe (Erasmus MC Rotterdam), conducts research into why policies aimed at changing this repeatedly stall and how these obstacles can be overcome.
Cardiovascular diseases affect 1.7 million people in the Netherlands and are more common among those with a lower socioeconomic position. A healthy diet helps prevent these diseases, but maintaining healthy eating habits is difficult in an environment which mainly stimulates unhealthy choices.
In today’s food environment, unhealthy products are often cheaper, widely available, and highly visible. Healthy food is also available, but it is often more expensive or presented less attractively. As a result, it is challenging for people to make healthy choices daily, even if they are motivated.
Despite this, policies to create a healthier food environment in the Netherlands are often lacking. This is due to barriers embedded in our wider societal system. Companies have economic interests and often place the responsibility on the consumer. At the same time, citizens sometimes perceive measures such as pricing incentives or advertising regulations as paternalistic. This leads to reluctance among politicians and society to implement food environment policies. Even when measures are implemented, there is a risk that they will be circumvented.
Together with colleagues from other universities, APH researchers Joreintje Mackenbach, Coosje Dijkstra, Luc Hagenaars and Wilma Waterlander, will address the problem at its core. PREMIER-CVD will not propose yet another isolated measure, but will be examining why attempts at change repeatedly stall. The researchers combine insights from different disciplines to identify solutions that are both fair and feasible.
The researchers focus on four areas: which financial incentives reward unhealthy offerings, where distrust and resistance come from, how the issue is discussed in media and politics, and how regulations can be made stronger and more equitable. Together with citizens, policymakers, experts, and companies, they translate these insights into practical tools for policy.
If PREMIER-CVD succeeds, it will help create a healthier food environment to prevent cardiovascular diseases and health disparities.
Photo: Adobestock