Project

Healthy and sustainable food environments in Dutch neighborhoods

Evidence has shown that there is an urgent need to adapt our food environments, to encourage healthy and sustainable food choices. This research explores ways to move towards healthy and sustainable food environments in collaboration with local stakeholders. It mainly builds upon case studies in the Foodvalley region in the Netherlands. The research will generate practice-based evidence, and contribute to building bridges between research and practice.

Introduction

The majority of the Dutch population does not have a healthy and sustainable diet. Diet is influenced by a variety of factors, among which the food environment. A supportive food environment has been identified as crucial to meet a healthy and sustainable diet. 

While effective elements of food environment interventions or policies to improve diets are available, sustained implementation in the real life context is lacking. Previous studies have often used top-down approaches to develop interventions, rather than co-creating interventions that respond to the local context and needs. Also, the literature lacks insight into the implementation process of food environment interventions in real-life contexts. Yet, co-creation methods and implementation research are essential to ensure that interventions will be successfully taken up by the local context and sustained over time. 

The goal of this research is to determine how healthy and sustainable food environments can best be co-created, implemented and sustained in Dutch neighbourhoods in the region Foodvalley. This will contribute to a transition towards healthy and sustainable neighbourhood food environments and food choices. 

The project is part of the “Regio Deal Foodvalley”, track 2: "Nutrition and Health”, work package 2: the food environment. 

Project description

Study 1: A comprehensive method to evaluate the external neighbourhood food environment

The aim of study 1 is to develop a method to evaluate the external neighbourhood food environment. In order to obtain a comprehensive overview of these food cues, the method developed will allow to combine objective and subjective information about the external neighbourhood food environment. For the subjective analysis, an app will be used for residents to take pictures of external food cues. For the objective analysis, GIS-based methods will be used to analyse the characteristics of food outlets present in the external neighbourhood food environment. 

Study 2: Group Model Building to understand the factors impacting the neighbourhood food environment and to identify systemic actions for a positive transition

The aim of this study is to understand what factors influence the neighbourhood food environment and through which systemic actions these factors can be adapted to trigger the transition towards healthier and more sustainable food environments. This will be done using group model building techniques over the course of multiple co-creation sessions with end users, stakeholders, and researchers.  

Study 3: Healthier and more sustainable neighbourhood food environments - how to implement and maintain actions for a positive transition

The aim of study 3 is to gain insight in facilitators and barriers to implement short and long-term actions for a transition towards healthier and more sustainable neighbourhood food environments. The process leading to the implementation of the action plan developed for study 2 will be studied to identify facilitators and barriers to adapt the food environment. Monthly meetings will be held with the staekholders, as well as interviews after 6 and 12 months. 

Study 4: Realising a healthy and sustainable food environment with local government and private stakeholders - lessons learned from a high-traffic public space

The aim of study 4 is to explore the determinants for the creation of a healthy and sustainable food environment in a high-traffic public space when local government and other actors of the food system collaborate. The collaborative governance approach will be used to study the collaboration processes between local government and private actors of the food system and how this steers actions towards the creation of healthy and sustainable food environments. Beyond the collaborative processes, we will assess how stakeholder/contextual factors shape the process and actions implemented (e.g. stakeholders ambition, vision on successes, goal setting etc), and in turn how this is interlinked with collaborative processes.  

Study 5: Opportunities to restrict unhealthy food advertisements on publicly-owned assets: measuring the effect of local policy on the content of ads and exploring stakeholders' views

The first aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of a local policy restricting unhealthy F&B ads on publicly-owned assets on the healthiness of outdoor advertisements. A content analysis of the advertisements before and after the implementation of a policy will be done to verify its effect and eventually identify loops/adapt the content and/or the scope of the policy in the future. The second aim of this study is to understand what would make such a policy effective, economically-viable and acceptable from the point of view of different stakeholders. Interviews will be held with a broad group of stakeholders involved with- or impacted by this policy.