Are advertising policies affirmative in restricting the marketing of foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) in India?: Evidence from SWOT Analysis

The regulatory Indian environment for advertising high fat, salt, and sugar (HFSS) foods and non-alcoholic beverages, on various media was reviewed. Identified national-level policies were categorised as mandatory or self-regulatory based on legal content. For each mandatory regulation, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis was undertaken to determine how existing policies could be strengthened to safeguard children from unhealthy food advertisements. Thirteen policies (nine mandatory; four self-regulatory) relevant to advertising in India were identified. Of the nine mandatory policies, Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022, is the only policy that restricts HFSS food advertisements to children across all media. There are key shortfalls, including limited scope of ‘child-targeted’ advertisements and lack of criteria to define HFSS foods. A robust regulatory framework is needed to protect children from HFSS food marketing, not just what is ‘directed’ at them, with clear evidence-based food classification criteria.Funding source: The work is supported by the UNICEF India Country Office, New Delhi, India

Understanding body image perception and body image discontentment in early adolescence

Background: The mounting trends of beauty perceptions have contributed to distorted body image among adolescents. This demands understanding about current pointers of body image satisfaction to prevent eating disorders associated with mismanagement of weight in adolescents. Aim & Objective: The objectives of this cross-sectional study were to apprehend body image perception and dissatisfaction among adolescents (12-14years) across the genders and associate it with their actual BMI along with identifying the factors influencing body image perception. Settings and Design: A structured questionnaire was developed and administered on randomly selected 112 adolescents (68% boys & 34% girls, 12-14 years), mean age=12.8 ±0.45 from urban coeducational school of western India. Anthropometric measurements were taken with standardized tools and BMI z-scores were calculated. The actual and perceived weight was compared using paired t-test and descriptive statistics. Association between body image indicators, gender, and BMI were assessed using Chi-square test and One-way ANOVA. Factor analysis was done by Principal component analysis. Results: There was a significant difference in the perceived (M=2.31, SD=0.93) and actual BMI (M=1.96, SD=0.69), p=0.002. A significant association between gender and the influence of media idols, discrimination due to physical appearance and BMI was observed (p≤.0.005).   Self-perception and judgements of others, behaviors related with self-fixation, social influence and inappropriate dietary practices and comparison with models and actors were the emerging factors identified. Conclusion: The body image perception was distorted among adolescents of both sexes, with higher body image discontent shown by girls. The perceived body image, when compared with their BMI was found to be incongruent across sexes

National Institute of Nutrition: 100 years of empowering the nation through nutrition

The National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) has reached a remarkable milestone of completing 100 years of exemplary service to the nation. The long journey that started in a humble one-room laboratory at Coonoor (now in Tamil Nadu) in 1918 to a colossus of the nutrition research in the country today is dotted with several interesting vignettes. The NIN has always been at the forefront of need-based, pragmatic research. Its large-scale community-based interventions have been of great practical value in the nation's fight against malnutrition. The evolution of nutrition as a modern science almost coincides with the growth of the Institute. Being the oldest in the fraternity of institutes under the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the NIN has grown from strength to strength due to the sheer relevance of its contributions in furthering nutrition science and promoting public health in the country. This article provides a historical overview of the evolution and contributions of ICMR-NIN in the areas of nutrition, food safety, public health and policy

Behavior change interventions to address unhealthy food consumption: A scoping review

High intakes of sodium, sugar, saturated fats, and trans-fats contributed to 187.7 million disability adjusted life years from noncommunicable diseases globally. Understanding of the global evidence on interventions to reduce consumption of various types of unhealthy food across diverse contexts is needed. We conducted a scoping review to examine the existing evidence on behavior change interventions (BCIs) to address unhealthy food consumption. Through a systematic search of 3 databases conducted in December 2022, 2730 records were retrieved, and 145 studies met the eligibility criteria for review. Only 19% of the studies (n = 28) were from low- and middle-income countries. The key target group for most BCIs was adults ≥20 y (n = 79). Interventions were conducted across 7 types of settings: schools (n = 52), digital (n = 30), community (n = 28), home (n = 14), health facility (n = 12), worksite (n = 6), and market (n = 3). There were 4 mutually inclusive intervention types-information, education, and communication (n = 141); food/beverage substitution (n = 10); interactive games (n = 7); and labeling/warnings at point-of-purchase (n = 3). The study outcomes included consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (n = 74), packaged salty snacks/fast food (n = 61), sweets (n = 43), and saturated fat (n = 41). Drivers of food choice behaviors, such as knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs; motivation and expectancies; and self-efficacy were reported in 43% of studies. On the basis of reported impact of BCIs on study outcomes, more interventions targeted at adults had positive impacts compared with those targeted at children; intervention packages, including multiple information, education, and communication components also reported impacts more often than single informational interventions. Interpretation of the findings was complicated by the lack of comparability in interventions, evaluation designs, outcome measures of unhealthy food consumption, duration of interventions, and study contexts. Future studies should invest in critical yet underrepresented regions, examine behavioral determinants of unhealthy food consumption and the sustainability of behavior change, and conduct further analysis of effectiveness from experimental studies