Independiente Diálogo
Enfoque geográfico:
Australia
Discussion topic outcome
Topic 1: Public health nutrition science and principles are essential to underpin evidence-informed decision-making for transforming food systems to be healthy, equitable and sustainable by 2030. Integrating nutrition science & food systems Nutrition issues are relevant to dietary, socioeconomic, and ecological elements of the food system. Understanding the political and social context that created our present food system will help us make progress. A framework for transition, including a clear vision for food system transformation is vital. Nutrition scientists need to be aware of the imp
... Leer másact of their work on the broader system. It is important that healthy and sustainable diets are not assumed to have ‘one size fits all’ solutions. Nutrition science is not being used to optimum effect to guide food system transformation because certain interests (e.g. big agriculture) trump nutrition & health narratives, particularly in countries like Australia which prioritise production of certain foods & exports. To overcome the barriers such as the “business as usual approach”, “policy inertia” and “resistance in government”, decision makers need to better manage those challenging changes (which mainly are coming from the ‘big food’ industry) and trade-offs. Some participants felt unable to make meaningful change at the policy level, because policies are heavily influenced by industry. Food policies which stem from a governing body, such as the UN, are able to unite governments to appropriately regulate industry and subsequently are essential for transformation. Integrating policy & practice There is a disconnect between conversations in practice and academia. E.g. in practice the focus is on promoting the consumption of healthy foods, but in academia there is a focus on reducing unhealthy foods. We need more conversations between people working in different sectors, and academics need to consider how to support practitioners. E.g. researchers should ask practitioners about problems & research questions. We need to bring together evidence and stories to promote change. Researchers need more funding to promote healthy foods, rather than focusing so much on reducing unhealthy foods. Definitions and evidence for policy The UN FSS needs to find a consensus on nutrition science definitions and what types of evidence are suitable to inform policy. There are strong concerns that if not done, important evidence may be continued to be pushed aside in policy making. An example of ensuring that definitions capture the right scope in policies was that nations should create National ‘Food System’ Policies rather than a National ‘Nutrition’ Policies. Another suggestion was to use the term ‘Ecological Nutrition’ rather than ‘Nutrition Science’. These types of definitions can lead to constructive dialogues and multi-sectorial collaboration. Evidence which informs food system transformation needs to be considered. Participants felt that the UN FSS appears to be approaching science from a western approach, which favours high-income countries. Science is only one form of knowledge, we also need to think about the broader principles e.g. ecology, human rights, inclusion. Additionally, the evidence hierarchy used in Australia prioritises research from clinical trials over other evidence, including traditional Indigenous knowledge. We need to consider who benefits from this e.g. dietary supplement manufacturers may benefit from clinical trials. Food systems research may benefit from removing the parts of the evidence hierarchy which are only relevant to clinical studies. This may foster the inclusion of environmental sustainability in dietary guideline development. We need to consider the level of granularity of research used as evidence for policy. E.g. foods and dietary patterns are more aligned with food system change, but we don’t want to reject evidence about specific nutrients. Nutrient approaches are also important e.g. when analysing nutrient content of traditional foods to promote biodiversity. We need alignment between policies focusing on nutrients, foods, and diets. We need integration of approaches, and to keep focusing on the big picture. Leer menos
Línea(s) de Acción: 2
Palabras clave: Data & Evidence, Environment and Climate, Governance, Human rights, Policy, Trade-offs