Policy Actions to Support Enhanced Consumer Behaviour for High-Quality Diets
Puts forward a number of recommendations to enhance consumer behaviour for high-quality diets
Abstract
Malnutrition, in all its forms, remains a global challenge. Nearly 800 million people have insufficient food for a healthy life and more than 2 billion suffer a lack of key vitamins and minerals. At the same time, 1.4 billion people are now overweight or obese. A lack of consumption of sufficiently diverse, nutritious foods remains a key contributor to poor nutrition. For many consumers in low- and middle-income countries, nutritious foods such as fruits, vegetables, dairy and fish are unavailable or unaffordable. Consumers around the world face the problem of food choices constrained by supply, access, price, information, diversity, safety and quality. Food-related consumer behaviour and decisions are very complex and are influenced by a multitude of other factors. Consequently, too many consumers make food choices that are inconsistent with their own good nutrition, health and wellbeing.
This brief focuses on the demand-side policies that influence behaviour change, particularly consumer education. It shows what governments can do to enable the transition to healthier, high-quality diets in a wide range of settings.
This output is funded under the Department for International Developments Global Panel on Agriculture & Food Systems for Nutrition Programme
Citation
Global Panel (2017), Policy Actions to Support Enhanced Consumer Behaviour for High-Quality Diets, Policy Brief No. 8, London: Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, 20pp
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