General aim
To develop, implement and evaluate intervention strategies at policy (macro level), environment (macro/meso level) and family/child level (micro level) that contribute to the maintenance and improvement of oral and metabolic health in the first 1,000 days.
Objectives
Active period
Year 4-8
AUAS, Inholland, ACTA, VU, AUMC, UvA-FMG, UTwente, TNO Microbiology & Systems Biology.
GGD, Sarphati Amsterdam, NVvK, Ivoren Kruis, Coop, Voedingscentrum, PANEL, Food4Smiles, MRN, NJi, Gezonde en Kansrijke Start, NCJ, JGZ, EVAA, SGF, NVD, Smallsteps/Partou.
WP5 conducts extra tasks before the official start of this WP. Starting from July 2024, Post-doc Josine Huber is appointed to evaluate natural experiments regarding the food environment and health policies. Foreseen activities (but dependent on available data) include the evaluation of the level of health of the food environment, the equity effects of nudging, the effects of food choice logos, and advertising restrictions regarding unhealthy foods.
These activities make use of the natural experiments that are currently ongoing, which include the implementation of the Nutri-score, the discussion around smart and less smart sugar taxes and the announcement of outdoor advertisement bans. Josine will also start preparing the systems evaluation. We are in close contact with researchers from other universities such as Wageningen and will collaborate in the evaluation of these natural experiments where possible. We are currently exploring available data sources.
We have applied for ethics approval (which was obtained) to conduct a qualitative study to identify if, how and why advertising restrictions have been implemented in a range of Dutch municipalities. Currently, nine policy makers have been interviewed affiliated with six different municipalities. We expect to reach data saturation with 13 to 15 municipalities. The results of the qualitative study on the implementation of advertising restrictions are expected by spring of 2025.
We have also initiated exploratory discussions with the RIVM about possibilities to evaluate the Nutri-Score implementation.
Joreintje Mackenbach and Josine Stuber (WP5) were interviewed for the journal ‘De Cardioloog’ about interventions and policies to make the food environment healthier. Unfortunately, the article is not publicly available: De Cardioloog | ‘Mensen beschermen tegen de industrie is niet betuttelend’