title: Changing the Food Environment for Obesity Prevention: Key Gaps and Future Directions.
abstract: The food environment has a great impact on the nutritional health of the population. Food environment interventions have become a popular strategy to address the obesity epidemic. However, there are still significant gaps in our understanding of the most effective strategies to modify the food environment to improve health. In this review, we examine key gaps in the food environment intervention literature, including the need for: developing appropriate formative research plans when addressing the food environment; methods for selecting intervention domains and components; incorporating food producers and distributors in intervention strategies; strengthening evaluation of environmental interventions; building the evidence base for food environment interventions in diverse settings; engaging policy makers in the process of modifying the food environment; and creating systems science models to examine the costs and benefits of a potential program or policy on the food environment prior to implementation. In addition, we outline the need for strategies for addressing these issues including conducting additional pilot interventions, developing additional methodologies, and embracing the use of simulation models.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Global Center on Childhood Obesity and Center for Human Nutrition, 615 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore MD 21044, .
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Anderson Steeves
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Departamento de Ciências do Movimento Humano., Av. Ana Costa, 95, Vila Matias, 11060001 - Santos, SP - Brasil, .
authors.forename: Paula Andrea
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Global Center on Childhood Obesity and Center for Human Nutrition, 615 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore MD 21044, .
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gittelsohn
keywords: Food access; Food dessert; Food environment; Intervention; Nutrition; Obesity; Stores