3 Healthy Food Environments
Perhaps one of the most important factors in combating obesity is ensuring that healthy food is readily available. Whether people buy foods from grocery stores to prepare at home or get food from a restaurant, the availability of healthy food options are key to combating obesity. Grocery stores, convenience stores, and farmers’ markets are examples of food retail venues. Restaurants (including quick serve), child care facilities, schools, hospital and work cafeterias are examples of food service venues.
Combined with educational efforts, healthy food availability in both food retail and service settings enables people to make healthier food choices. Foods that are higher in calories and lower in nutritional value contribute to the problem of obesity, but are often selected due to convenience when healthier foods are not readily available. Thus, creating and supporting healthy food environments is an important part of public health work.
There are many different strategies that can contribute to healthy food environments. These include 1) providing incentives for supermarkets or farmers’ markets to establish their businesses in underserved areas; 2) having nutrition information and caloric content on restaurant and fast food menus; and 3) applying nutrition standards in child care facilities, schools, hospitals, and worksites. (“Healthy Food Environments”, 2020).
Schools can support healthier food choices by ensuring they provide healthy food and beverage options. They can also provide education on proper nutrition, reading labels, and healthy eating habits. Encouraging students to eat foods that meets healthy dietary recommendations for fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and nonfat or low-fat dairy products is a simple strategy schools can employ.
According to the CDC (“Healthy Food Environments”, 2020), schools and communities can promote healthy habits using the following strategies:
- Encourage children to drink water in place of sugar-sweetened beverages and ensure access to free drinking water as an alternative to sugar-sweetened beverages before, during, and after school. See Water Access in Schools.
- Establish school salad bars to increase access to fruits and vegetables for children. See Salad Bars to Schools.
- Limit foods and drinks with added sugar, fat and sodium th.at can be purchased outside the school lunch program. See Competitive Foods in Schools.
States and communities can
- Assist in the creation of new food retail outlets in underserved areas to increase access to healthier foods and beverages.
- Support the improvement of the quality, variety, and amount of healthier foods and beverages in existing stores.
- Help with the promotion and marketing of healthier foods and beverages to the consumer.
Many resources are available for greater information on how communities are taking action to create healthy food environments such as the following:
(University of California Television, 2010).