Increase evidence base on policy action relating to healthy diets
Description
We commit to increasing the evidence base about available policy actions to promote healthy diets currently being implemented around the world.
This commitment seeks to contribute to global child and adult obesity-reduction targets by providing evidence for policy development.
We will continue to source policy actions from around the world related to healthy diets, in line with the scope of the NOURISHING framework, and collate them into the NOURISHING database to strengthen the evidence base about what action is being taken and where.
Our baseline is 897 policies from 135 countries, and we will work to increase our repository of information.
The database will be populated through policy scans, ongoing monitoring and surveillance and contact with in-country officials. The full methodology can be found at the following link: https://www.wcrf.org/policy/policy-databases/nourishing-and-moving-faqs/. All policies will be verified by an in-country expert to confirm eligibility.
Progress in adding countries to the NOURISHING database will be communicated in the monthly World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) International policy newsletter, which can be found at the following link: https://www.wcrf.org/policy/policy-newsletter/.
Overarching commitment (for commitments submitted pre-2025)
Title
Evidence base for healthy diets policy
Description
We commit to increasing the evidence base of diet-related policy actions through our NOURISHING policy framework and NOURISHING database of policy actions. We will increase the number of policy actions on the database by 10% by 2022 and 20% by 2023.
The NOURISHING database is an important tool to help identify where action is needed to promote healthy diets, select and tailor options suitable for specific populations and assess if the approach is sufficiently comprehensive. We will continue to collect, organise and disseminate information about actions governments are taking around the world to promote healthy diets.
Currently, the NOURISHING database, which was launched in 2015, holds 897 policies from 135 countries, as well as policy evaluations. To qualify for inclusion in the database, policies must be national in scope, currently in use and verified by an in-country government expert. Each policy in the database includes its name, country, short description and implementation date.
Through funding from the EU’s Horizon 2020, through the five-year CO-CREATE project (Confronting obesity: co-creating policy with youth), WCRF will continue to identify, verify and collate policies in the NOURISHING database on an ongoing basis until 2023 and will seek funding to continue populating the database from 2023 onwards.
The database is open access to all and designed for use by policymakers, civil society and researchers. All data can be downloaded in csv format for further analysis. Latest additions to the database are communicated in a monthly newsletter, and updates are shared with the nutrition team at WHO.
The NOURISHING database is structured around the NOURISHING policy framework. The framework outlines the ten areas where governments should take action to promote healthy diets. The framework and database support the advocacy efforts of WCRF International by providing evidence that underpins technical advice and influencing efforts for cost-effective and impactful policy design and implementation. It can support stakeholder advocacy efforts by highlighting what is available and monitoring policy gaps.
The NOURISHING database can be found at the following link: https://policydatabase.wcrf.org
GNR assessment
| Verification status |
Verified
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|---|---|
| SMARTness index |
High
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Details
| Global nutrition target(s) |
Childhood overweight
Adult obesity
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|---|---|
| Nutrition Action Classification(s) |
Enabling >
Research, monitoring and data
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| Linked event(s) |
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| N4G Summit theme(s) |
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Measurement
| Key indicator | Number of policy actions relevant to one of the NOURISHING framework’s policy areas, including subpolicy areas |
|---|---|
| Measurement plan | Collect own data |
| Value | Measurement date | |
|---|---|---|
| Baseline | 897 Policy actions | 2021 |
| Target | 937 Policy actions | May 2023 |
Progress
| Value | Measurement date | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Progress report | 1,261 policy actions | May 2023 |
Reached by end date
The target had been reached on or before the end date.
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