IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jfpoli/v96y2020ics0306919220300324.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Improving the food environment in kindergartens and schools: An overview of policies and policy opportunities in Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Kovacs, Viktoria Anna
  • Messing, Sven
  • Sandu, Petru
  • Nardone, Paola
  • Pizzi, Enrica
  • Hassapidou, Maria
  • Brukalo, Katarzyna
  • Tecklenburg, Ernestine
  • Abu-Omar, Karim

Abstract

Childhood obesity and unhealthy nutrition are high on the European policy agenda because of their association with chronic diseases and due to the related social and economic burden. In 2014, the EU Action Plan on Childhood Obesity 2014–2020 was launched with an overarching goal to halt the rise of overweight and obesity in children by the year 2020. To facilitate the implementation of the Action Plan, the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission provided support to bring together 25 Member States plus Norway for a Joint Action on Nutrition and Physical Activity (JANPA). The current paper is based on the results of JANPA and presents the explored policy options to improve children's nutrition by targeting the food environment in and around kindergartens and schools. We conclude that for effective actions countries need to combine various mutually reinforcing policies in parallel, including the provision of healthy foods, lowering the availability of unhealthy foods, restricting marketing, and promoting education. Success will depend on the coherence of messages and on the engagement of a wide range of stakeholders and sectors. Evaluation should be carefully designed, using indicators of progress towards the goal of improving diet and reducing obesity in children.

Suggested Citation

  • Kovacs, Viktoria Anna & Messing, Sven & Sandu, Petru & Nardone, Paola & Pizzi, Enrica & Hassapidou, Maria & Brukalo, Katarzyna & Tecklenburg, Ernestine & Abu-Omar, Karim, 2020. "Improving the food environment in kindergartens and schools: An overview of policies and policy opportunities in Europe," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:96:y:2020:i:c:s0306919220300324
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2020.101848
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306919220300324
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.foodpol.2020.101848?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brownson, R.C. & Chriqui, J.F. & Stamatakis, K.A., 2009. "Understanding evidence-based public health policy," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99(9), pages 1576-1583.
    2. Davis, B. & Carpenter, C., 2009. "Proximity of fast-food restaurants to schools and adolescent obesity," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99(3), pages 505-510.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dobromir Stoyanov, 2021. "The role of vending channels in marketing: A systematic review and taxonomy of studies," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(2), pages 654-679, June.
    2. Krasnoff, Shayna M. & Schmit, Todd M. & Bilinski, Cheryl B., 2023. "Economic impact assessment of public incentives to support farm-to-school food purchases," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    3. Daniel Francisco Pais & António Cardoso Marques & José Alberto Fuinhas, 2023. "How to Promote Healthier and More Sustainable Food Choices: The Case of Portugal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-23, February.
    4. Nasrin Omidvar & Mina Babashahi & Zahra Abdollahi & Ayoub Al-Jawaldeh, 2021. "Enabling Food Environment in Kindergartens and Schools in Iran for Promoting Healthy Diet: Is It on the Right Track?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-22, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Adamopoulou, Effrosyni & Olivieri, Elisabetta & Triviza, Eleftheria, 2024. "Eating habits, food consumption, and health: The role of early life experiences," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    2. Laura Seliske & William Pickett & Rebecca Bates & Ian Janssen, 2012. "Field Validation of Food Service Listings: A Comparison of Commercial and Online Geographic Information System Databases," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-7, July.
    3. Asirvatham, Jebaraj & Thomsen, Michael R. & Nayga, Rodolfo M. & Goudie, Anthony, 2019. "Do fast food restaurants surrounding schools affect childhood obesity?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 124-133.
    4. Michael L. Anderson & David A. Matsa, 2011. "Are Restaurants Really Supersizing America?," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(1), pages 152-188, January.
    5. Abrahamsson, Sara & Bütikofer, Aline & Karbownik, Krzysztof, 2023. "Swallow This: Childhood and Adolescent Exposure to Fast Food Restaurants, BMI, and Cognitive Ability," CEPR Discussion Papers 18213, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Tae Ho Kim & Chang Sug Park & Sang-hyeok Lee & Jung Eun Kang, 2023. "Gap Analysis Between the Level of Heat Wave Adaptation Policy and Heat Wave Effects in South Korean Municipalities," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(2), pages 120-132.
    7. Rieckmann, Traci R. & Kovas, Anne E. & Cassidy, Elaine F. & McCarty, Dennis, 2011. "Employing policy and purchasing levers to increase the use of evidence-based practices in community-based substance abuse treatment settings: Reports from single state authorities," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 366-374, November.
    8. Kumcu, Aylin & Okrent, Abigail M ., 2014. "Methodology for the Quarterly Food-Away-From-Home Prices Data," Technical Bulletins 184292, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    9. Lin Lin & Xueming (Jimmy) Chen & Anne Vernez Moudon, 2021. "Measuring the Urban Forms of Shanghai’s City Center and Its New Districts: A Neighborhood-Level Comparative Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-18, July.
    10. Philip Gleason & Ronette Briefel & Ander Wilson & Allison Hedley Dodd, "undated". "School Meal Program Participation and Its Association with Dietary Patterns and Childhood Obesity," Mathematica Policy Research Reports c1c533c65a3d4883a9b227c21, Mathematica Policy Research.
    11. Hunt Allcott & Rebecca Diamond & Jean-Pierre Dubé & Jessie Handbury & Ilya Rahkovsky & Molly Schnell, 2019. "Food Deserts and the Causes of Nutritional Inequality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(4), pages 1793-1844.
    12. Yang, You-hong & Gao, Ping & Zhou, Haimei, 2023. "Understanding the evolution of China's standardization policy system," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(2).
    13. Dolton, Peter J. & Tafesse, Wiktoria, 2022. "Childhood obesity, is fast food exposure a factor?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    14. Alfred Rütten, 2012. "Evidence-based policy revisited: orientation towards the policy process and a public health policy science," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 57(3), pages 455-457, June.
    15. Hall, Brian J. & Huang, Lei & Yi, Grace & Latkin, Carl, 2021. "Fast food restaurant density and weight status: A spatial analysis among Filipina migrant workers in Macao (SAR), People's Republic of China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    16. Chang, Hung-Hao & Meyerhoefer, Chad D., 2019. "Inter-brand competition in the convenience store industry, store density and healthcare utilization," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 117-132.
    17. Cyr, Pascale Renée & Jain, Vageesh & Chalkidou, Kalipso & Ottersen, Trygve & Gopinathan, Unni, 2021. "Evaluations of public health interventions produced by health technology assessment agencies: A mapping review and analysis by type and evidence content," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(8), pages 1054-1064.
    18. Hamrick, Karen & Okrent, Abigail, 2014. "Timing is Everything: The Role of Time and the Business Cycle in Fast-Food Purchasing Behavior in the United States," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 170156, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    19. Kolodinsky, Jane M. & Battista, Geoffrey & Roche, Erin & Lee, Brian H.Y. & Johnson, Rachel K., 2017. "Estimating the effect of mobility and food choice on obesity in a rural, northern environment," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 30-39.
    20. Shree Kumar Maharjan, 2021. "Stocktaking of local adaptation plans and initiatives in the changing political context in Nepal," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 3199-3217, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:96:y:2020:i:c:s0306919220300324. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/foodpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.