Eating behaviours, prevalence of obesity & health policies

Obesity prevalence is increasing, particularly in developing nations. To contain these trends, several countries implemented preventive measures such as taxation of food items and/or front-of-pack labels. An ecological cross-country observational study was conducted, using publicly available data (GBD, WHO-GHO) on 20 European and Latin American countries, to explore changes around the year of policy in the consumption of foods/nutrients considered “healthy” or “unhealthy” and in the obesity prevalence across age groups. Food/nutrient consumption trends did not show a consistent pattern according to policy adoption. In several countries, “healthy” food consumptions decreased over time, while “unhealthy” food/nutrient consumptions increased, regardless of the adoption of policies. Trend analyses around policy adoption suggested changes in obesity trajectories, particularly among children and adolescents, but these findings were inconsistent across settings. The multifactorial nature of obesity may explain the contrasting results evidenced by this study, indicating a more complex approach beyond focusing on single foods/nutrients.