Nutrition Policies Designed to Change the Food Environment to Improve Diet and Health of the Population.

Abstract

The risk of chronic disease is widespread. In the United States, nearly 60% of the population has at least 1 chronic health condition. Among the most common are cardiovascular disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes, all of which are associated with poor diet quality. At these levels, strategies are needed that can effectively impact widespread dietary practices and population nutrition and health. Increasingly, the food environment has been recognized as a powerful influencer of the quality of diets of community members. Local nutrition policies can effectively change the food environment in ways that increase access and affordability to healthful food and beverage choices and reduce access to and affordability of less healthful food and beverage choices. While much of the effort to change dietary practices is focused on education, this paper discusses 3 strategies by which nutrition policy can improve the dietary practices of individuals: (1) promoting healthy food purchases in the retail food environment, (2) improving access to healthy foods and beverages in food assistance programs, and (3) reducing access to less healthy foods and beverages through the use of taxes. Often enhanced by educational efforts, these strategies, used by government, business, and voluntary organizations, together make it easier for the public to make healthful dietary choices and thereby reduce the risk of chronic disease.