Healthy Food Environment Policies and Non-Communicable Disease Prevention

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and certain cancers are responsible for the majority of premature deaths worldwide. Suboptimal diets, characterised by excessive energy intake, high levels of saturated fat, sugar and salt, and low consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grains, are key modifiable risk factors. Healthy food environment policies seek to shape dietary choices by regulating the composition, labelling, pricing, marketing and provision of foods and beverages. Common interventions include front-of-pack labelling, fiscal measures such as taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages, restrictions on marketing to children, and procurement standards in schools and workplaces. Complementary infrastructure support—encompassing governance structures, monitoring systems, funding mechanisms and stakeholder engagement—is essential to ensure coherent implementation and accountability. Evidence highlights that well-designed policies can shift purchasing patterns, improve diet quality and reduce disease burden, while also addressing inequities in food access. Real-world examples span high-income countries introducing soda taxes to curb obesity and low- and middle-income settings strengthening marketing controls to protect young consumers. Continued global collaboration and rigorous evaluation are vital to adapt policies to diverse contexts, counter industry resistance and meet targets for NCD prevention and sustainable development.

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Healthy Food Environment Policies and Non-Communicable Disease Prevention publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in healthy food environment policies and non-communicable disease prevention across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Food environment: The collective physical, economic, policy and sociocultural surroundings that influence food choices and nutritional status.

Fiscal policy: Government measures affecting the price of foods, including taxes on unhealthy products and subsidies for nutritious items.

Front-of-pack labelling: Simplified nutrition labels on the front of food packages designed to inform consumers at a glance and guide healthier choices.

Healthy Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI): A benchmarking tool assessing the extent of government action against international best practices for food environment policies and infrastructure.

Ultra-processed foods: Industrial formulations typically high in added sugars, fats and salt, associated with poor diet quality and increased NCD risk.

References

1. Policy implementation and recommended actions to create healthy food environments using the Healthy Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI): a comparative analysis in South Asia. The Lancet Regional Health - Southeast Asia (2024).
2. Policy coherence of price controls on food and noncommunicable disease prevention, WHO South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions. Bulletin of the World Health Organization (2025).
3. The potential of food environment policies to reduce socioeconomic inequalities in diets and to improve healthy diets among lower socioeconomic groups: an umbrella review. BMC Public Health (2022).