Global Obesity Centre (GLOBE), School of Health and Social Development, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia.
School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada.
BMC Public Health. 2019 Sep 2;19(1):1205. doi: 10.1186/s12889-019-7483-9.
Poor diet is a significant contributor to the burden of global disease. There are numerous policies available to address poor diets; however, these policies often require public support to encourage policy action. The current study aimed to understand the level of public support for a range of food policies and the factors associated with policy support.
An online survey measuring support for 13 food policies was completed by 19,857 adults in Australia, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US). The proportion of respondents that supported each policy was compared between countries, and the association between demographic characteristics and policy support was analysed using multivariate logistic regression.
The level of support varied between policies, with the highest support for policies that provided incentives (e.g., price subsidies) or information (e.g., calorie labelling on menus), and the lowest support for those that imposed restrictions (e.g., restrictions on sponsorship of sport events). This pattern of support was similar in all countries, but the level differed, with Mexico generally recording the highest support across policies, and the US the lowest. Several demographic characteristics were associated with policy support; however, these relationships varied between countries.
The results suggest that support for food policies is influenced by several factors related to the policy design, country, and individual demographic characteristics. Policymakers and advocates should consider these factors when developing and promoting policy options.
不良饮食是导致全球疾病负担的一个重要因素。有许多政策可用于解决不良饮食问题；然而，这些政策通常需要公众支持来鼓励政策行动。本研究旨在了解公众对一系列食品政策的支持程度以及与政策支持相关的因素。
在澳大利亚、加拿大、墨西哥、英国和美国，19857 名成年人在线完成了一项衡量对 13 项食品政策支持程度的调查。比较了各国对每项政策的支持比例，并使用多变量逻辑回归分析了人口统计学特征与政策支持之间的关系。
政策支持的程度因政策而异，对提供激励（例如价格补贴）或信息（例如菜单上的卡路里标签）的政策的支持率最高，而对施加限制（例如限制体育赛事赞助）的政策的支持率最低。这种支持模式在所有国家都相似，但支持程度不同，墨西哥普遍对所有政策的支持率最高，而美国则最低。一些人口统计学特征与政策支持有关；然而，这些关系因国家而异。
研究结果表明，食品政策的支持受到与政策设计、国家和个人人口统计学特征相关的几个因素的影响。政策制定者和倡导者在制定和推广政策方案时应考虑这些因素。
