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A Proposed Research Agenda for Promoting Healthy Retail Food Environments in the East Asia–Pacific Region

  • Cardiovascular Disease (JHY Wu, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

This paper aimed to summarise existing literature on strategies to improve the healthiness of retail food environments in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region, and propose a prioritised research agenda on this topic.

Recent Findings

Little research on retail food environments has been conducted in the EAP region. Several approaches for measuring retail food environments were identified, although none have been tailored to the EAP context. A small number of policies and initiatives to promote healthy retail food environments have been implemented in EAP. Lessons learnt from successful implementation of initiatives in other regions could be applied in EAP.

Summary

Retail food environments have a strong influence on food choices and health outcomes. Research can contribute to efforts to improve the healthiness of retail food environments in EAP by (1) describing the current state of retail food environments to highlight areas of good practice and concern and (2) identifying policies and initiatives that are likely to be effective, and mechanisms for their successful implementation.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth), UNICEF East Asia/Pacific through funds from the Government of the Netherlands, and Deakin University. AJC, ER, JM, TS, OH, DR, MRB, KB, AP, and GS are researchers within the Australian NHMRC funded Centre of Research Excellence in Food Retail Environments for Health (RE-FRESH) (APP1152968). The opinions, analysis, and conclusions in this paper are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the NHMRC. AJC, GS, and KB are recipients of Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowships from the National Heart Foundation of Australia (project numbers 102611, 102035, and 102047), and AP is a recipient of a National Health and Medical Research Council Investigator Grant.

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  1. Global Obesity Centre (GLOBE), School of Health and Social Development, Faculty of Health, Institute for Health Transformation, Deakin University, 1 Gheringhap St, Geelong, VIC, 3220, Australia

    Adrian J. Cameron, Erica Reeve, Josephine Marshall, Tailane Scapin, Oliver Huse, Devorah Riesenberg, Miranda Blake, Kathryn Backholer, Anna Peeters & Gary Sacks

  2. The Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth), PO Box 13137, Law Courts, Melbourne, VIC, 8010, Australia

    Dheepa Jeyapalan & Sandro Demaio

  3. UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office, PO Box 2-154, Bangkok, 10200, Thailand

    Fiona Watson, Roland Kupka & Karla P. Correa

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  1. Adrian J. Cameron
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Contributions

AC, GS, FW, RK, and KC contributed to the study conception and design. ER, JM, and OH performed the literature search and data analysis. AC, TS, DR, and GS drafted the manuscript. All authors critically revised the work and approved the final version of the paper.

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Correspondence to Adrian J. Cameron.

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Cameron, A.J., Reeve, E., Marshall, J. et al. A Proposed Research Agenda for Promoting Healthy Retail Food Environments in the East Asia–Pacific Region. Curr Nutr Rep 10, 267–281 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13668-021-00381-1

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