Table 3.
Environmental influences on diet
| Domains | Examples of factors that affect diet |
|---|---|
| Policy/Legislation | Tax or subsidies on food/drink/imported food/locally grown food |
| Tax on food bought and eaten outside the home | |
| Food standards e.g. salt content of foods | |
| Regulation of industry | |
| Government/National body Dietary guidelines on healthy foods | |
| National per capita food availability | |
| Food and agricultural policies e.g. agricultural subsidies | |
| Food production | |
| Drinking water availability | |
| Medical support/weight-loss programs | |
| Public information | Nutrition labelling |
| Health claims legislation | |
| School programs/education | |
| Advertising restrictions — restriction of junk-food advertising in children's programs | |
| Point of sale information — e.g. information in stores regarding healthiness of foods, information on menus regarding healthiness of meals | |
| Healthy diet educations programs | |
| Spending on research to inform and underpin policy on nutrition | |
| Media coverage of obesity/weight control/healthy diet issues | |
| Societal and cultural norms | Culture of eating out vs cooking at home |
| Culture of drinking alcohol while eating | |
| Culture of eating with family/friends or eating alone; TV dinner culture | |
| Food purchasing patterns | |
| Average portion size | |
| Social norms e.g. normal body size | |
| Role models | |
| Cultural/ethnicity influences | |
| Neighbourhood environment | Costs of foods |
| ‘Access and availability’ | Food purchasing environment — supermarkets/small stores/convenience stores/markets/vendors etc |
| Relative availability of healthy vs unhealthy stores | |
| In-store retail environment — including display of items, packaging of goods | |
| Relative availability of healthy vs unhealthy items in stores | |
| Variety and quality of stores | |
| Variety and quality of products sold | |
| Out-of-home meal environment — fast food outlets/restaurants/cafes/pubs/ | |
| Relative availability of healthy/unhealthy meals | |
| Variety and quality of restaurants/variety and quality of meals | |
| Quality/quantity/availability of food at work/school/other organised environments | |
| Hours of store/restaurant opening | |
| Vending machines |