The Healthy Food Retail Evidence and Action Hub is an initiative of the UNICEF East-Asia and Pacific Regional Office (EAPRO) and Deakin University (Australia) through the Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition (GLOBE) in collaboration with partner organisations in East Asia and the Pacific region and supported by the Pictet Foundation. It aims to connect those who share the common aim of improving the healthiness of the retail food environments in the East Asia and Pacific region.
Everyone has the right to healthy foods. However, in the East Asia and Pacific region, unhealthy diets are driving an epidemic of child and adults’ overweight, obesity, and diet-related noncommunicable diseases. It is estimated that 83 million children aged 5-19 years will be living with obesity in the East Asia and Pacific region by 2030.
Retail food environments play a significant role in shaping individuals’ dietary preferences and consumption patterns, as the availability, pricing, and promotion of foods can influence purchasing decisions. Our recent research suggests that people in the East Asia and Pacific region are living surrounded by retail food environments that stimulate unhealthy diets.
With this transition towards increasingly unhealthy retail food environments occurring in the EAP region, food retailers have a timely opportunity to adopt health-enabling food retail practices and better support population and their customers health. A healthy retail food environment is one where healthy food is available, affordable, appealing and promoted in all types of retail stores.
This Hub intends to inform retailers, governments, researchers and advocates of potential solutions to improve the healthiness of retail food environments in the region, provide research summary findings to guide the development of informed and evidence-based policies and gather voices of those who believe healthy stores are needed and possible.
Interested to know how more about supporting the promotion of healthier food environments for all children in the Asia and Pacific region? Whether you’re a retailer, policymaker, researcher, or advocate, we have tips for getting involved and supporting the development of healthier food environments.
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