Sarah E. Gollust is with the Division of Health Policy and Management, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis. At the time of the study, Hanna A. Kite was with the Division of Health Policy and Management, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and Sara J. Benning was with the Children, Youth, & Family Consortium, University of Minnesota Extension, Minneapolis. Rachel A. Callanan is with the American Heart Association Midwest Affiliate, Edina, MN. Susan R. Weisman is with the Public Health Law Center, William Mitchell College of Law, St. Paul, MN. Marilyn S. Nanney is with the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health and the Program in Health Disparities Research, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis.
Am J Public Health. 2014 Oct;104(10):1894-900. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.302137. Epub 2014 Aug 14.
We describe how scientific evidence about obesity has been used in Minnesota legislative materials to understand how research evidence might more effectively be translated into policymaking.
We selected 13 obesity-related bills introduced from 2007 to 2011 in Minnesota. Using state archives, we collected all legislative committee meeting materials and floor testimony related to each bill. We used a coding instrument to systematically analyze the content of a sample of 109 materials for their use of research evidence and non-research-based information.
Research evidence was mentioned in 41% of all legislative materials. Evidence was often used to describe the prevalence or consequences of obesity or policy impacts but not to describe health disparities. In 45% of materials that cited evidence, no source of evidence was indicated. By contrast, 92% of materials presented non-research-based information, such as expert beliefs, constituent opinion, political principles, and anecdotes.
Despite an abundance of available research evidence on obesity, less than half of legislative materials cited any such evidence in discussions around obesity-related bills under consideration in Minnesota.
我们描述了明尼苏达州立法材料中如何使用关于肥胖的科学证据，以了解如何更有效地将研究证据转化为决策。
我们选择了 2007 年至 2011 年在明尼苏达州提出的 13 项与肥胖相关的法案。我们使用州档案馆，收集了与每个法案相关的所有立法委员会会议材料和法案审议证词。我们使用编码工具，对 109 份材料中的样本进行了系统分析，以了解它们对研究证据和非研究信息的使用情况。
研究证据在所有立法材料中的提及率为 41%。证据通常用于描述肥胖的流行程度或后果或政策影响，但不用于描述健康差异。在引用证据的材料中，有 45%没有说明证据的来源。相比之下，92%的材料提供了非研究为基础的信息，如专家意见、选民意见、政治原则和轶事。
尽管有大量关于肥胖的可用研究证据，但在明尼苏达州审议的与肥胖相关法案的讨论中，只有不到一半的立法材料引用了任何此类证据。
