Working towards affordable healthy diets: a review on innovations in food price monitoring, policy and research in Australia and beyond.

Healthy diets are unaffordable for billions of people worldwide, with food prices rising in high-, middle- and low-income nations in recent times. Despite widespread attention to this issue, recent actions taken to inform policy prioritisation and government responses to high food inflation have not been comprehensively synthesised. Our review summarises (i) innovative efforts to monitor national food and healthy diet price, ii) new policy responses adopted by governments to address food inflation and (iii) future research directions to inform new evidence.

Evaluating the Nourish Network - a multi-sector collective initiative to progress healthy food retail in Australia.

Objectives: To evaluate the current state of the Nourish Network (NN) - a healthy food retail network, to inform future planning and improvement opportunities.

Design: A qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews conducted between January and April 2024, open-ended survey questions from six online surveys applied between 2019-2022, and a focus group with the NN Advisory Committee (NNAC) in June 2024. Thematic analysis was applied to interview and survey data.

Oral Health Meets Commercial Determinants: An Opportunity to Bridge Individual and Structural Approaches.

Oral diseases are among the most prevalent conditions affecting Australians, yet oral health agendas often focus on individual treatment rather than prevention at the population level. Viewing oral health through a commercial determinants of health lens provides an opportunity to bridge this treatment-centred approach with a prevention-focused agenda that targets structural determinants of oral health-the causes of the causes. We highlight the role of structural and commercial factors, operating outside an individual's control, that drive the high prevalence of oral disease and inequities at a population level.

Understanding food choices and promoting healthier food options among online food delivery service users in Australia: a qualitative study.

Background: Online food delivery services (OFDS) are increasingly used to acquire food prepared out-of-home. Evidence suggests that OFDS commonly promote energy dense and nutrient poor foods, and their regular use may contribute to adverse health outcomes. To inform public health efforts to promote healthy choices on OFDS in Australia, we aimed to explore factors influencing adults' food choices on OFDS and gauge their perceptions towards actions that could support healthier food choices on OFDS.

Consumers acceptability of using screen capture methods to capture marketing strategies on online food delivery platforms: a qualitative study.

Objective: The use of online food delivery (OFD) platforms is on the rise, and currently, there are no public health policies that regulate what and how food is sold on these platforms. Research quantifying and describing the marketing strategies on OFD platforms is limited. Our study aimed to test the consumers' acceptability of using two screen capture methods to record their food purchasing behaviour on OFD platforms and describe consumers' exposure to, and engagement with, marketing strategies on OFD platforms in real time.

Prevalence of online food delivery platforms, meal kit delivery, and online grocery use in five countries: an analysis of survey data from the 2022 International Food Policy Study.

Background: Online food retail use is rapidly increasing in popularity, and offers user-friendly apps, and new food delivery models, including online food delivery platforms, online grocery retailers, and online meal kit delivery. We aimed to: (1) quantify the prevalence of online food retail platform use by adults across Australia, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States, and to (2) assess the associations between sociodemographic and behavioural factors and use of online food retail platforms.

Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with adults as part of the 2022 International Food Policy Survey (n = 19,877).

The emergence of meal delivery applications: a research agenda to advance the next decade of progress in nutrition.

The United Nations Decade of Nutrition was declared on 1 April 2016 to accelerate action to achieve global nutrition and diet-related non-communicable disease targets by 2025. Meal delivery applications offering takeaway meals and ready-to-eat foods from restaurant kitchen to doorstep via a third-party courier, have proliferated as a new digital dimension to traditional food environments. These digital platforms threaten to disrupt progress towards creating a health-enabling food environment.

Global food retail environments are increasingly dominated by large chains and linked to the rising prevalence of obesity.

Retail food environments influence food purchasing and dietary patterns. A global analysis of the food retail landscape allowing comparisons across geographical regions is therefore needed to tackle diet-related non-communicable diseases. Here we examine trends in retail food environments from 2009 to 2023 across 97 countries, exploring associations with changes in obesity prevalence.

A best practice guide for conducting healthy food retail research: A resource for researchers and health promotion practitioners.

Retail food environments play a pivotal role in influencing dietary behaviors, and therefore have huge potential as settings for promoting good nutrition and preventing obesity. Conducting research in retail settings can be challenging due to the varied motivations of the parties involved and the complex nature of retail environments. To improve the quality and consistency of research in this field, we have identified 16 thematic topics aimed at guiding researchers and public health practitioners on how to conduct healthy food retail research.

A systematic review of the implementation of healthy food retail interventions in settings with multiple food retail outlets (complex food retail settings).

Complex food retail settings, where multiple food retail outlets operate in close proximity are common. Despite their ubiquity, there remains a significant knowledge gap regarding healthy food retail interventions implemented within these settings. Furthermore, understanding the factors affecting the implementation of interventions in these settings remains limited.

Trajectories of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intake in Early Life: Evidence from a Birth Cohort Study.

Infancy and early childhood are periods of dietary transition. Early exposure to specific foods and the establishment of dietary habits during this period can shape long-term food preferences and have lasting effects on health. This study aimed to examine the longitudinal trajectories of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) intake in Australian children from birth to age 3 years and identify early-life and socioeconomic factors influencing those trajectories.

Use of online food delivery services among adults in five countries from the International Food Policy Study 2018-2021.

Aim: Online food delivery services (OFDS) are popular for purchasing meals prepared outside home, increasing access to energy-dense and nutrient-poor foods. This adversely impacts dietary choices and health outcomes. Our study examined trends in OFDS use in Australia, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US) from 2018 to 2021.

' - Australian shoppers' experiences with online grocery platforms.

Objective: We aimed to understand what influences parents' purchasing behaviours when shopping for groceries online and potential ways to improve the healthiness of online grocery platforms.

Design: We conducted semi-structured interviews, guided by the Marketing Mix framework. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse data.

Convenience as a dimension of food environments: A systematic scoping review of its definition and measurement.

Convenience is a major driver of food choice throughout the world, yet it is often inconsistently conceptualised, defined and measured. This limits the scope for food systems policy and interventions to leverage convenience to improve diet and nutrition outcomes. We conducted a systematic literature review to determine how convenience is both defined and measured in food environment and nutrition research.

Virtual Care Initiatives for Older Adults in Australia: Scoping Review.

Background: There has been a rapid shift toward the adoption of virtual health care services in Australia. It is unknown how widely virtual care has been implemented or evaluated for the care of older adults in Australia.

Objective: We aimed to review the literature evaluating virtual care initiatives for older adults across a wide range of health conditions and modalities and identify key challenges and opportunities for wider adoption at both patient and system levels in Australia.

Association between cash transfer programs and oral health-A scoping review.

Objectives: The aims of this scoping review are to assess the literature investigating the association between cash transfer programs and oral health; and to identify the theoretical frameworks applied to guide this literature.

Methods: A search strategy to identify studies published until December 2020 was applied to a range of databases. Observational and interventional studies that had cash transfer programs as exposure/intervention and oral health as outcome were considered.

Factors Influencing Implementation, Sustainability and Scalability of Healthy Food Retail Interventions: A Systematic Review of Reviews.

The aim of this systematic review of reviews was to synthesise the evidence on factors influencing the implementation, sustainability and scalability of food retail interventions to improve the healthiness of food purchased by consumers. A search strategy to identify reviews published up until June 2020 was applied to four databases. The Risk of Bias in Systematic Review tool was used.

The association between sugar intake during pregnancy and allergies in offspring: a systematic review and a meta-analysis of cohort studies.

Context: It has been hypothesized that a mother's diet during pregnancy may modulate her offspring's immune system development and lead to development of allergic diseases among offspring. However, the evidence for this is unclear and inconclusive.

Objective: This systematic review was undertaken to examine the weight of evidence for causality from cohort studies on the association between maternal free sugar intake during pregnancy and development of allergies in offspring.

The Impact of and Government Planning and Responses to Pandemics for People with Disability: A Rapid Review.

-To collate evidence on (1) the risk of infection for people with disability during infectious disease outbreaks and/or pandemics and (2) government responses and pandemic plans for people with disability. -Through two rapid reviews, relevant peer-reviewed studies and grey literature published from 2002 onwards in the English language were identified. Data were synthesised narratively.

A state-wide audit of unhealthy sponsorship within junior sporting clubs in Victoria, Australia.

Objective: To systematically audit the extent of unhealthy sponsorship within junior community sporting clubs and ascertain whether differences exist across geographical areas and sport types.

Design: Club sponsorship data were assessed to determine the extent of unhealthy food/beverage, alcohol and gambling sponsorship using a cross-sectional design. Differences across geographical areas were assessed using logistic regressions.

The effect of front-of-package labels or point-of-sale signage on consumer knowledge, attitudes and behavior regarding sugar-sweetened beverages: a systematic review.

Context: Globally, the use of labels or signage targeting SSBs remains in its infancy and there is limited evidence available regarding its ability to decrease purchase and consumption of SSBs.

Objective: This systematic review aimed to synthesize the evidence on the effect of sugar- or health-related sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) warning labels or signage on knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs, and SSB purchase and consumption.

Data Sources: Nine databases - Ovid Medline, Emerald Insight, Scopus, Informit, Business Source Complete, CINAHL, Global Health, PsychINFO, and SocIndex - were searched along with grey literature from inception to December 2019.

Differential exposure to, and potential impact of, unhealthy advertising to children by socio-economic and ethnic groups: A systematic review of the evidence.

Children's exposure to advertising of unhealthy food and nonalcoholic beverages that are high in saturated fats, salt and/or sugar is extensive and increases children's preferences for, and intake of, targeted products. This systematic review examines the differential potential exposure and impact of unhealthy food advertising to children according to socio-economic position (SEP) and/or ethnicity. Nine databases (health, business, marketing) and grey literature were searched in November 2019 using terms relating to 'food or drink', 'advertising' and 'socioeconomic position or ethnicity'.

Australia's sugar tale.

Objective: To establish high intake of free sugars and its related disease burden as a significant public health challenge in Australia.

Design: We discuss five key actions to reduce intake of free sugars tailored to the Australian context. These strategies are informed by reviewing the global scientific evidence on the effectiveness of a range of policy responses to reduce intake of free sugars at the population level.

How much free sugar do Australians consume? Findings from a national survey.

Objective: To identify the characteristics of Australian adults exceeding the World Health Organization's free sugar (FS) intake recommendations of <10% and compare the sources of FS among those exceeding (high FS consumers) and complying (low FS consumers) with the recommendations.

Method: Nationally weighted data from the Australian National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey 2011-12 was used to describe the proportions of FS consumption and sources of FS among adults aged ≥18 years (n=9,435) across demographic, socioeconomic and health behavioural subgroups. Six categories of food groups likely to contain FS were generated and analysed.