title: Healthy food procurement policy: an important intervention to aid the reduction in chronic noncommunicable diseases.
abstract: In 2010, unhealthy diets were estimated to be the leading risk for death and disability in Canada and globally. Although important, policies aimed at improving individual's skills in selecting and eating healthy foods has had a limited effect. Policies that create healthy eating environments are strongly recommended but have not yet been effectively and/or broadly implemented in Canada. Widespread adoption of healthy food procurement policies are strongly recommended in this policy statement from the Hypertension Advisory Committee with support from 15 major national health organizations. The policy statement calls on governments to take a leadership role, but also outlines key roles for the commercial and noncommercial sectors including health and scientific organizations and the Canadian public. The policy statement is based on a systematic review of healthy food procurement interventions that found them to be almost uniformly effective at improving sales and purchases of healthy foods. Successful food procurement policies are nearly always accompanied by supporting education programs and some by pricing policies. Ensuring access and availability to affordable healthy foods and beverages in public and private sector settings could play a substantive role in the prevention of noncommunicable diseases and health risks such as obesity, hypertension, and ultimately improve cardiovascular health.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Medicine, Physiology, and Pharmacology, and Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Electronic address: ncampbel@ucalgary.ca.
authors.forename: Norm
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.affiliation: Canadian Hypertension Advisory Committee, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Tara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Duhaney
authors.affiliation: Health Policy, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arango
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, and Canadian Nurses Association, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Lisa A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Ashley
authors.affiliation: Department of Exercise Science, Concordia University, and Montreal Behavioural Medicine Centre, Hospital du Sacre-Coeur de Montreal, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Simon L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Bacon
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gelfer
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine, Univérsite de Montréal and CRCHUM, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Janusz
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kaczorowski
authors.affiliation: Health Policy and Government Relations, The College of Family Physicians of Canada, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mang
authors.affiliation: Health Promotion and Advocacy, Canadian Council of Cardiovascular Nurses, and Cardiovascular and Coronary Care Units, Royal Jubilee Hospital, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Dorothy
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.affiliation: Public Policy, and Government Relations and Public Affairs, Canadian Diabetes Association, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Seema
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nagpal
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine (Cardiology), Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Ross T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Tsuyuki
authors.affiliation: Canadian Stroke Network, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Kevin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Willis
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease; D058870:Food, Organic / Q000592:standards*; D014943:Global Health; D006291:Health Policy; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D009017:Morbidity / Q000639:trends; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*