Payán Denise D, Lewis LaVonna B
Department of Public Health, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA, USA.
Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Prev Med Rep. 2019 Oct 21;16:101004. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2019.101004. eCollection 2019 Dec.
Addressing the translational gap between research evidence and state health policy requires an understanding of the current use of research evidence in the state policymaking process. In this study, we explore the use of research evidence to inform the legislative debate about restaurant nutrition labeling policy in California. In 2008, California was the first state to enact a mandatory menu calorie labeling policy in the U.S. Using a qualitative approach, we examine data sources and types of evidence used in legislative documents (n = 87) related to six menu labeling bills introduced in California's state legislature between 2003 and 2008. Federal- and state-level government agency reports were the most frequently cited sources of technical knowledge. Advocacy coalition members who were active participants involved in the policy debate were also cited as experts. Five of the six bills included evidence in related legislative documents. While documents included considerable evidence on the magnitude and severity of the obesity problem to justify policy enactment, there were a limited number of statements referring to policy effectiveness and only one statement identified attesting to implementation context and acceptability. Reference to evidence on related policy suggests policy precedence may also play an important role in policy decision making. There is a need to improve the dissemination of obesity policy effectiveness and implementation studies in a politically time sensitive manner to influence state health policy debates. Strategies are discussed to effectively integrate the use of research evidence in the state health policymaking process.
弥合研究证据与州卫生政策之间的转化差距，需要了解研究证据在州政策制定过程中的当前使用情况。在本研究中，我们探讨了如何利用研究证据为加利福尼亚州餐厅营养标签政策的立法辩论提供信息。2008年，加利福尼亚州成为美国首个颁布强制性菜单卡路里标签政策的州。我们采用定性方法，研究了与2003年至2008年间加利福尼亚州立法机构提出的六项菜单标签法案相关的立法文件（n = 87）中使用的数据来源和证据类型。联邦和州政府机构报告是最常被引用的技术知识来源。积极参与政策辩论的倡导联盟成员也被引为专家。六项法案中有五项在相关立法文件中包含了证据。虽然文件中包含了大量关于肥胖问题的严重程度和规模的证据，以证明政策的颁布是合理的，但提及政策有效性的陈述数量有限，只有一项陈述确定涉及实施背景和可接受性。对相关政策证据的引用表明，政策先例在政策决策中也可能发挥重要作用。有必要以政治上对时间敏感的方式，改进肥胖政策有效性和实施研究的传播，以影响州卫生政策辩论。我们讨论了在州卫生政策制定过程中有效整合研究证据使用的策略。
