Assessing policy influencer and general public support for healthy eating policies for chronic disease prevention in Newfoundland and Labrador

Abstract

Unhealthy food environments result in poor diets and chronic diseases in populations. Addressing upstream determinants of diet through policies supported by policy influencers and the public is proven to be more effective than targeting individual-level determinants. This thesis contains two cross-sectional studies that aimed to assess and compare policy influencer and public support and acceptability for healthy eating policies in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Chronic Disease Prevention Survey was used to collect healthy eating policy support data from both groups. The difference in policy influencer and public support in Study 1 was analyzed using Pearson's χ² test. In Study 2 policy acceptability among both groups was analyzed using the Net Favourable Percentage, and the Nuffield Intervention Ladder was used to categorize policies according to the appropriate intrusiveness level. Results showed ³80.0% support from both groups for 16/21 policies, and three policies showed significant difference in support (p<0.05). Among both groups, level 2 "provide information" and level 5 "guide choices through incentives" policies were most accepted, while level 6 "guide choices through disincentives" and level 7 "restrict choice" were least accepted. In conclusion, collectively high policy support and acceptability for less intrusive policies were noted among both groups in the province.