Global Obesity Centre (GLOBE), Institute for Health Transformation, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia.
Int J Health Policy Manag. 2021 Dec 1;10(12):857-870. doi: 10.34172/ijhpm.2020.147.
The potential role of the food and beverage industry in addressing diet-related disease is much debated, particularly amidst evidence of the targeted strategies, including voluntary self-regulation, used by the industry to influence policy in their favour. At the same time, the need for more comprehensive action to address unhealthy diets has led to a focus on increasing the accountability of different stakeholders. However, there has been limited evaluation of the impact of accountability initiatives on food and beverage company policies and practices. This study evaluated the impact of the BIA-Obesity (Business Impact Assessment - Obesity and population nutrition) Australia Initiative that benchmarked major Australian food and beverage companies on their nutrition-related policies.
Evaluation was conducted against the pre-specified logic model for BIA-Obesity and established frameworks for analysing organisational change and corporate political activity. Outcomes evaluated included company engagement with the Initiative, level of media coverage, and impact of the Initiative on company policies and practices based on the perspectives of company representatives. A mixed methods design was employed, including surveys and in-depth interviews with company representatives, and media reports.
Approximately half of invited companies participated in the evaluation of the BIA-Obesity Australia Initiative. A number of company representatives indicated that the Initiative had influenced their company's nutrition policies, strategies, and disclosure practices, and had raised their company's awareness of the importance of addressing nutrition issues.
Company representatives perceive benchmarking and accountability initiatives as helpful for provoking improvements in nutrition-related policies and practices in their companies. However, the benefits of these initiatives need to be assessed in the context of the broader political and economic environment. Whilst the focus of accountability initiatives, such as BIA-Obesity, are on industry self-regulation efforts, they can also play an important role in drawing attention to the need for increased government regulation.
食品和饮料行业在解决与饮食相关的疾病方面的潜在作用存在很大争议，尤其是在有证据表明该行业采取了有针对性的策略，包括自愿自我监管，以影响有利于他们的政策之时。与此同时，为了解决不健康饮食问题，需要采取更全面的行动，这导致人们更加关注增加不同利益相关者的问责制。然而，对于问责制举措对食品和饮料公司政策和做法的影响，评估有限。本研究评估了 BIA-Obesity（商业影响评估-肥胖和人口营养）澳大利亚倡议的影响，该倡议对澳大利亚主要食品和饮料公司的营养相关政策进行了基准测试。
根据 BIA-Obesity 的预先规定逻辑模型以及分析组织变革和公司政治活动的既定框架进行评估。评估的结果包括公司对倡议的参与程度、媒体报道的数量，以及根据公司代表的观点，倡议对公司政策和做法的影响。采用了混合方法设计，包括对公司代表的调查和深入访谈，以及媒体报道。
大约一半受邀公司参与了 BIA-Obesity 澳大利亚倡议的评估。一些公司代表表示，该倡议影响了他们公司的营养政策、战略和披露做法，并提高了他们公司对解决营养问题的重视。
公司代表认为基准测试和问责制举措有助于促使他们公司改善与营养相关的政策和做法。然而，需要在更广泛的政治和经济环境中评估这些举措的好处。尽管 BIA-Obesity 等问责制举措的重点是行业的自我监管努力，但它们也可以在引起人们对增加政府监管的必要性的关注方面发挥重要作用。
