title: Policies to promote healthy eating in Europe: a structured review of policies and their effectiveness.
abstract: This review provides a classification of public policies to promote healthier eating as well as a structured mapping of existing measures in Europe. Complete coverage of alternative policy types was ensured by complementing the review with a selection of major interventions from outside Europe. Under the auspices of the Seventh Framework Programme's Eatwell Project, funded by the European Commission, researchers from five countries reviewed a representative selection of policy actions based on scientific papers, policy documents, grey literature, government websites, other policy reviews, and interviews with policy-makers. This work resulted in a list of 129 policy interventions, 121 of which were in Europe. For each type of policy, a critical review of its effectiveness was conducted, based on the evidence currently available. The results of this review indicate a need exists for a more systematic and accurate evaluation of government-level interventions as well as for a stronger focus on actual behavioral change rather than changes in attitude or intentions alone. The currently available evidence is very heterogeneous across policy types and is often incomplete.
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, University of Bologna, Via Belle Arti 41, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Capacci
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mazzocchi
authors.forename: Bhavani
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shankar
authors.forename: José Brambila
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Macias
authors.forename: Wim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Verbeke
authors.forename: Federico J A
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Pérez-Cueto
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kozioł-Kozakowska
authors.forename: Beata
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Piórecka
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Niedzwiedzka
authors.forename: Dina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: D'Addesa
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saba
authors.forename: Aida
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Turrini
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aschemann-Witzel
authors.forename: Tino
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bech-Larsen
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Strand
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Smillie
authors.forename: Josephine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wills
authors.forename: W Bruce
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Traill
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D004032:Diet / Q000592:standards*; D005060:Europe; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D011050:Policy Making; D015397:Program Evaluation