Can policy ameliorate socioeconomic inequities in obesity and obesity-related behaviours? A systematic review of the impact of universal policies on adults and children

Obesity Reviews

Volumn 17, Issue 12, 2016, Pages 1198-1217

  Olstad, D L ^a   Teychenne, M ^a   Minaker, L M ^b   Taber, D R ^c   Raine, K D ^d   Nykiforuk, C I J ^d   Ball, K ^a  

^a DEAKIN UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

^b UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO   (Canada)

^c UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH   (United States)

^d UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA   (Canada)

Author keywords

dietary behaviours; obesity; physical activity; policy; socioeconomic inequities

Indexed keywords

ADOLESCENT; CHILD; HEALTH BEHAVIOR; HEALTH CARE POLICY; HUMAN; OBESITY; OUTCOME ASSESSMENT; PHYSICAL ACTIVITY; PRACTICE GUIDELINE; REVIEW; SOCIOECONOMICS; SYSTEMATIC REVIEW; ADULT; DIET; EXERCISE; PEDIATRIC OBESITY; RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL (TOPIC);

ADULT; CHILD; DIET; EXERCISE; HEALTH POLICY; HUMANS; OBESITY; PEDIATRIC OBESITY; RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS AS TOPIC; SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS;

EID: 84994559156     PISSN: 14677881     EISSN: 1467789X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/obr.12457     Document Type: Review

References (109)

1. Marmot MG, Rose G, Shipley M, Hamilton PJ. Employment grade and coronary heart disease in British civil servants. J Epidemiol Community Health 1978; 32: 244–9.
2. Townsend P, Davidson N. Inequalities in health: The Black Report. Penguin Books: Suffolk, 1982.
3. Marmot M, Friel S, Bell R, Houweling TA, Taylor S. Commission on Social Determinants of Health. Closing the gap in a generation: health equity through action on the social determinants of health. Lancet 2008; 372: 1661–9.
4. World Health Organization. Obesity and overweight. Fact sheet #311, 2015.
5. Gearon E, Backholer K, Stevenson C et al. Trends in body mass index according to educational attainment for urban Australian adults between 1980 and 2007. Int J Obes (Lond) 2015; 39: 1019–26.
6. Ball K, Crawford D. Socioeconomic status and weight change in adults: a review. Soc Sci Med 2005; 60: 1987–2010.
7. Devaux M, Sassi F. Social inequalities in obesity and overweight in 11 OECD countries. Eur J Public Health 2013; 23: 464–9.
8. Roskam AJ, Kunst AE, Van Oyen H et al. Comparative appraisal of educational inequalities in overweight and obesity among adults in 19 European countries. Int J Epidemiol 2010; 39: 392–404.
9. Howe LD, Tilling K, Galobardes B, Smith GD, Ness AR, Lawlor DA. Socioeconomic disparities in trajectories of adiposity across childhood. Int J Pediatr Obes: IJPO : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity 2011; 6: e144–53.
10. Backholer K, Mannan HR, Magliano DJ et al. Projected socioeconomic disparities in the prevalence of obesity among Australian adults. Aust N Z J Public Health 2012; 36: 557–63.
11. Wang YC, McPherson K, Marsh T, Gortmaker SL, Brown M. Health and economic burden of the projected obesity trends in the USA and the UK. Lancet 2011; 378: 815–25.
12. Chung A, Backholer K, Wong E, Palermo C, Keating C, Peeters A. Trends in child and adolescent obesity prevalence in economically advanced countries according to socioeconomic position: a systematic review. Obes Rev 2016; 17: 276–95.
13. Giskes K, Avendano M, Brug J, Kunst AE. A systematic review of studies on socioeconomic inequalities in dietary intakes associated with weight gain and overweight/obesity conducted among European adults. Obes Rev 2010; 11: 413–29.
14. Rasmussen M, Krolner R, Klepp KI et al. Determinants of fruit and vegetable consumption among children and adolescents: a review of the literature. Part I: Quantitative studies. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2006; 3: 22.
15. Cameron AJ, Ball K, Pearson N et al. Socioeconomic variation in diet and activity-related behaviours of Australian children and adolescents aged 2–16 years. Pediatr Obes. 2012; 7: 329–42.
16. Dubowitz T, Heron M, Bird CE et al. Neighborhood socioeconomic status and fruit and vegetable intake among whites, blacks, and Mexican Americans in the United States. Am J Clin Nutr 2008; 87: 1883–91.
17. Billson H, Pryer JA, Nichols R. Variation in fruit and vegetable consumption among adults in Britain. An analysis from the dietary and nutritional survey of British adults. Eur J Clin Nutr 1999; 53: 946–52.
18. Riediger ND, Moghadasian MH. Patterns of fruit and vegetable consumption and the influence of sex, age and socio-demographic factors among Canadian elderly. J Am Coll Nutr 2008; 27: 306–13.
19. Darmon N, Drewnowski A. Does social class predict diet quality? Am J Clin Nutr 2008; 87: 1107–17.
20. Zarnowiecki D, Ball K, Parletta N, Dollman J. Describing socioeconomic gradients in children's diets - does the socioeconomic indicator used matter? Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2014; 11: 44.
21. Beenackers MA, Kamphuis CB, Giskes K et al. Socioeconomic inequalities in occupational, leisure-time, and transport related physical activity among European adults: a systematic review. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2012; 9: 116.
22. Whitehead M. A typology of actions to tackle social inequalities in health. J Epidemiol Community Health 2007; 61: 473–8.
23. Backholer K, Beauchamp A, Ball K et al. A framework for evaluating the impact of obesity prevention strategies on socioeconomic inequalities in weight. Am J Public Health 2014; 104: e43–50.
24. Capacci S, Mazzocchi M, Shankar B et al. Policies to promote healthy eating in Europe: a structured review of policies and their effectiveness. Nutr Rev 2012; 70: 188–200.
25. Chriqui JF, Pickel M, Story M. Influence of school competitive food and beverage policies on obesity, consumption, and availability: a systematic review. JAMA Pediatr 2014; 168: 279–86.
26. Brennan LK, Brownson RC, Orleans CT. Childhood obesity policy research and practice: evidence for policy and environmental strategies. Am J Prev Med 2014; 46: e1–e16.
27. Mayne SL, Auchincloss AH, Michael YL. Impact of policy and built environment changes on obesity-related outcomes: a systematic review of naturally occurring experiments. Obes Rev 2015; 16: 362–75.
28. Ganann R, Fitzpatrick-Lewis D, Ciliska D et al. Enhancing nutritional environments through access to fruit and vegetables in schools and homes among children and youth: a systematic review. BMC Res Notes 2014; 7: 422–35.
29. Magnusson RS. What's law got to do with it part 1: A framework for obesity prevention. Aust NZ Health Policy 2008; 5: 10.
30. Cobiac LJ, Veerman L, Vos T. The role of cost-effectiveness analysis in developing nutrition policy. Annu Rev Nutr 2013; 33: 373–93.
31. Graff SK, Kappagoda M, Wooten HM, McGowan AK, Ashe M. Policies for healthier communities: historical, legal, and practical elements of the obesity prevention movement. Annu Rev Public Health 2012; 33: 307–24.
32. Swinburn BA, Sacks G, Hall KD et al. The global obesity pandemic: shaped by global drivers and local environments. Lancet 2011; 378: 804–14.
33. Moodie M, Sheppard L, Sacks G, Keating C, Flego A. Cost-Effectiveness of Fiscal Policies to Prevent Obesity. Curr Obes Rep 2013; 2: 211–24.
34. Welch VA, Petticrew M, O'Neill J et al. Health equity: evidence synthesis and knowledge translation methods. Syst Rev 2013; 2: 43–53.
35. Welch V, Petticrew M, Tugwell P et al. PRISMA-Equity 2012 extension: reporting guidelines for systematic reviews with a focus on health equity. PLoS Med 2012; 9: e1001333.
36. Arksey H, O'Malley L. Scoping studies: towards a methodological framework. Int J Soc Res Meth 2005; 8: 19–32.
37. Sampson M, Barrowman NJ, Moher D et al. Should meta-analysts search Embase in addition to Medline? J Clin Epidemiol 2003; 56: 943–55.
38. Westphal A, Kriston L, Holzel LP, Harter M, von Wolff A. Efficiency and contribution of strategies for finding randomized controlled trials: a case study from a systematic review on therapeutic interventions of chronic depression. J Public Health Res 2014; 3: 177–84.
39. Royle P, Milne R. Literature searching for randomized controlled trials used in Cochrane reviews: rapid versus exhaustive searches. Int J Technol Assess Health Care 2003; 19: 591–603.
40. Royle PL, Bain L, Waugh NR. Sources of evidence for systematic reviews of interventions in diabetes. Diabet Med: a journal of the British Diabetic Association 2005; 22: 1386–93.
41. World Health Organization. Global strategy on diet, physical activity and health, 2004.
42. Commission on Social Determinants of Health. CSDH final report: closing the gap in a generation: health equity through action on the social determinants of health. World Health Organization: Geneva, 2008.
43. Brennan L, Castro S, Brownson RC, Claus J, Orleans CT. Accelerating evidence reviews and broadening evidence standards to identify effective, promising, and emerging policy and environmental strategies for prevention of childhood obesity. Annu Rev Public Health 2011; 32: 199–223.
44. Freudenberg N, Franzosa E, Sohler N, Li R, Devlin H, Albu J. The State of Evaluation Research on Food Policies to Reduce Obesity and Diabetes Among Adults in the United States, 2000–2011. Prev Chronic Dis 2015; 12: E182.
45. Fogarty AW, Antoniak M, Venn AJ et al. Does participation in a population-based dietary intervention scheme have a lasting impact on fruit intake in young children? Int J Epidemiol 2007; 36: 1080–5.
46. National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools. Quality assessment tool for quantitative studies. McMaster University: Hamilton, ON, 2008.
47. Brown T, Platt S, Amos A. Equity impact of population-level interventions and policies to reduce smoking in adults: a systematic review. Drug Alcohol Depend 2014; 138: 7–16.
48. Magnee T, Burdorf A, Brug J et al. Equity-specific effects of 26 Dutch obesity-related lifestyle interventions. Am J Prev Med 2013; 44: e57–66.
49. Chomitz VR, McGowan RJ, Wendel JM et al. Healthy Living Cambridge Kids: a community-based participatory effort to promote healthy weight and fitness. Obesity 2010; 18(Suppl 1): S45–53.
50. Christiansen LB, Toftager M, Boyle E, Kristensen PL, Troelsen J. Effect of a school environment intervention on adolescent adiposity and physical fitness. Scand J Med Sci Sports 2013; 23: e381–9.
51. Economos CD, Hyatt RR, Goldberg JP et al. A community intervention reduces BMI z-score in children: Shape Up Somerville first year results. Obesity 2007; 15: 1325–36.
52. Sanigorski AM, Bell AC, Kremer PJ, Cuttler R, Swinburn BA. Reducing unhealthy weight gain in children through community capacity-building: results of a quasi-experimental intervention program, Be Active Eat Well. Int J Obes (Lond) 2008; 32: 1060–7.
53. Toftager M, Christiansen LB, Ersboll AK, Kristensen PL, Due P, Troelsen J. Intervention effects on adolescent physical activity in the multicomponent SPACE study: a cluster randomized controlled trial. PLoS One 2014; 9: e99369.
54. Ogilvie D, Fayter D, Petticrew M et al. The harvest plot: a method for synthesising evidence about the differential effects of interventions. BMC Med Res Methodol 2008; 8: 8–15.
55. Rautio N, Jokelainen J, Oksa H et al. Socioeconomic position and effectiveness of lifestyle intervention in prevention of type 2 diabetes: one-year follow-up of the FIN-D2D project. Scand J Public Health 2011; 39: 561–70.
56. Coronini-Cronberg S, Millett C, Laverty AA, Webb E. The impact of a free older persons' bus pass on active travel and regular walking in England. Am J Public Health 2012; 102: 2141–8.
57. Capacci S, Mazzocchi M. Five-a-day, a price to pay: an evaluation of the UK program impact accounting for market forces. J Health Econ 2011; 30: 87–98.
58. Kim K, Park SM, Oh KW. The impact of nutritional policy on socioeconomic disparity in the unhealthy food intake among Korean adolescents. Appetite 2013; 71: 388–95.
59. Schagen S, Blenkinsop S, Schagen I et al. Evaluating the impact of the National Healthy School Standard: using national datasets. Health Educ Res 2005; 20: 688–96.
60. Bae SG, Kim JY, Kim KY, Park SW, Bae J, Lee WK. Changes in dietary behavior among adolescents and their association with government nutrition policies in Korea, 2005–2009. J Prev Med Pub Health 2012; 45: 47–59.
61. Tak NI, Te Velde SJ, Brug J. Long-term effects of the Dutch Schoolgruiten Project--promoting fruit and vegetable consumption among primary-school children. Public Health Nutr 2009; 12: 1213–23.
62. Tak NI, Te Velde SJ, Singh AS, Brug J. The effects of a fruit and vegetable promotion intervention on unhealthy snacks during mid-morning school breaks: results of the Dutch Schoolgruiten Project. J Hum Nutr Diet: the official journal of the British Dietetic Association 2010; 23: 609–15.
63. Czernichow S, Vergnaud AC, Maillard-Teyssier L et al. Trends in the prevalence of obesity in employed adults in central-western France: a population-based study, 1995–2005. Prev Med 2009; 48: 262–6.
64. Rosenkranz RR, Behrens TK, Dzewaltowski DA. A group-randomized controlled trial for health promotion in Girl Scouts: healthier troops in a SNAP (Scouting Nutrition & Activity Program). BMC Public Health 2010; 10: 81–94.
65. Bíró A. Did the junk food tax make the Hungarians eat healthier? Food Policy 2015; 54: 107–15.
66. Sturm R, Powell LM, Chriqui JF, Chaloupka FJ. Soda taxes, soft drink consumption, and children's body mass index. Health Aff (Millwood) 2010; 29: 1052–8.
67. Spence JC, Holt NL, Dutove JK, Carson V. Uptake and effectiveness of the Children's Fitness Tax Credit in Canada: the rich get richer. BMC Public Health 2010; 10: 356–62.
68. Mendoza JA, Watson K, Cullen KW. Change in dietary energy density after implementation of the Texas Public School Nutrition Policy. J Am Diet Assoc 2010; 110: 434–40.
69. Cullen KW, Watson KB, Fithian AR. The impact of school socioeconomic status on student lunch consumption after implementation of the Texas Public School Nutrition Policy. J Sch Health 2009; 79: 525–31 quiz 61-3.
70. Bere E, Veierod MB, Klepp KI. The Norwegian School Fruit Programme: evaluating paid vs. no-cost subscriptions. Prev Med 2005; 41: 463–70.
71. Gleason PM, Dodd AH. School breakfast program but not school lunch program participation is associated with lower body mass index. J Am Diet Assoc 2009; 109: S118–28.
72. Dumanovsky T, Huang CY, Nonas CA, Matte TD, Bassett MT, Silver LD. Changes in energy content of lunchtime purchases from fast food restaurants after introduction of calorie labelling: cross sectional customer surveys. BMJ 2011; 343: d4502–5367.
73. Elbel B, Mijanovich T, Dixon LB et al. Calorie labeling, fast food purchasing and restaurant visits. Obesity 2013; 21: 2172–9.
74. Krieger JW, Chan NL, Saelens BE, Ta ML, Solet D, Fleming DW. Menu labeling regulations and calories purchased at chain restaurants. Am J Prev Med 2013; 44: 595–604.
75. Aytur SA, Rodriguez DA, Evenson KR, Catellier DJ, Rosamond WD. Promoting active community environments through land use and transportation planning. Am J Health Promot 2007; 21: 397–407.
76. Fletcher JM, Frisvold D, Tefft N. Can soft drink taxes reduce population weight? Contemp Econ Policy 2010; 28: 23–35.
77. Powell LM, Chriqui J, Chaloupka FJ. Associations between state-level soda taxes and adolescent body mass index. J Adolesc Health 2009; 45: S57–63.
78. Hobin E, So J, Rosella L, Comte M, Manske S, McGavock J. Trajectories of objectively measured physical activity among secondary students in Canada in the context of a province-wide physical education policy: a longitudinal analysis. J Obes 2014; 2014: 958645.
79. Taber DR, Chriqui JF, Powell L, Chaloupka FJ. Association between state laws governing school meal nutrition content and student weight status: implications for new USDA school meal standards. JAMA Pediatr 2013; 167: 513–9.
80. Kim J. Are physical education-related state policies and schools' physical education requirement related to children's physical activity and obesity? J Sch Health 2012; 82: 268–76.
81. Sanchez-Vaznaugh EV, Sanchez BN, Crawford PB, Egerter S. Association between competitive food and beverage policies in elementary schools and childhood overweight/obesity trends: differences by neighborhood socioeconomic resources. Jama, Pediatr 2015; 169: e150781.
82. Bere E, Hilsen M, Klepp KI. Effect of the nationwide free school fruit scheme in Norway. Br J Nutr 2010; 104: 589–94.
83. Hughes RJ, Edwards KL, Clarke GP, Evans CE, Cade JE, Ransley JK. Childhood consumption of fruit and vegetables across England: a study of 2306 6-7-year-olds in 2007. Br J Nutr 2012; 108: 733–42.
84. Moore GF, Murphy S, Chaplin K, Lyons RA, Atkinson M, Moore L. Impacts of the Primary School Free Breakfast Initiative on socio-economic inequalities in breakfast consumption among 9-11-year-old schoolchildren in Wales. Public Health Nutr 2014; 17: 1280–9.
85. Niederdeppe J, Kuang X, Crock B, Skelton A. Media campaigns to promote smoking cessation among socioeconomically disadvantaged populations: what do we know, what do we need to learn, and what should we do now? Soc Sci Med 2008; 67: 1343–55.
86. Sumar N, McLaren L. Impact on social inequalities of population strategies of prevention for folate intake in women of childbearing age. Am J Public Health 2011; 101: 1218–24.
87. Riley JC, Lennon MA, Ellwood RP. The effect of water fluoridation and social inequalities on dental caries in 5-year-old children. Int J Epidemiol 1999; 28: 300–5.
88. Dowd JB, Aiello AE. Did national folic acid fortification reduce socioeconomic and racial disparities in folate status in the US? Int J Epidemiol 2008; 37: 1059–66.
89. Oldroyd J, Burns C, Lucas P, Haikerwal A, Waters E. The effectiveness of nutrition interventions on dietary outcomes by relative social disadvantage: a systematic review. J Epidemiol Community Health 2008; 62: 573–9.
90. Beauchamp A, Backholer K, Magliano D, Peeters A. The effect of obesity prevention interventions according to socioeconomic position: a systematic review. Obes Rev 2014; 15: 541–54.
91. Boelsen-Robinson T, Peeters A, Beauchamp A, Chung A, Gearon E, Backholer K. A systematic review of the effectiveness of whole-of-community interventions by socioeconomic position. Obes Rev 2015; 16: 806–16.
92. Hillier-Brown FC, Bambra CL, Cairns JM, Kasim A, Moore HJ, Summerbell CD. A systematic review of the effectiveness of individual, community and societal-level interventions at reducing socio-economic inequalities in obesity among adults. Int J Obes (Lond) 2014; 38: 1483–90.
93. Hillier-Brown FC, Bambra CL, Cairns JM, Kasim A, Moore HJ, Summerbell CD. A systematic review of the effectiveness of individual, community and societal level interventions at reducing socioeconomic inequalities in obesity amongst children. BMC Public Health 2014; 14: 834–52.
94. McGill R, Anwar E, Orton L et al. Are interventions to promote healthy eating equally effective for all? Systematic review of socioeconomic inequalities in impact. BMC Public Health 2015; 15: 457–72.
95. Lorenc T, Petticrew M, Welch V, Tugwell P. What types of interventions generate inequalities? Evidence from systematic reviews. J Epidemiol Community Health 2013; 67: 190–3.
96. Powell LM, Chaloupka FJ. Food prices and obesity: evidence and policy implications for taxes and subsidies. Milbank Q 2009; 87: 229–57.
97. Powell LM, Chriqui JF, Khan T, Wada R, Chaloupka FJ. Assessing the potential effectiveness of food and beverage taxes and subsidies for improving public health: a systematic review of prices, demand and body weight outcomes. Obes Rev 2013; 14: 110–28.
98. Powell LM, Zhao Z, Wang Y. Food prices and fruit and vegetable consumption among young American adults. Health Place 2009; 15: 1064–70.
99. Beydoun MA, Powell LM, Chen X, Wang Y. Food prices are associated with dietary quality, fast food consumption, and body mass index among U.S. children and adolescents. J Nutr 2011; 141: 304–11.
100. Hunt P. Health and well-being: the role of government. Public Health 2012; 126(Suppl 1): S19–23.
101. Chriqui JF. Obesity prevention policies in US states and localities: Lessons from the field. Curr Obes Rep 2013; 2: 200–10.
102. Fulponi L. Policy initiatives concerning diet, health and nutrition. OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Working Paper No 14, 2009.
103. McGuffin LE, Wallace JM, McCrorie TA, Price RK, Pourshahidi LK, Livingstone MB. Family eating out-of-home: a review of nutrition and health policies. Proc Nutr Soc 2013; 72: 126–39.
104. Sisnowski J, Handsley E, Street JM. Regulatory approaches to obesity prevention: A systematic overview of current laws addressing diet-related risk factors in the European Union and the United States. Health Policy 2015; 119: 720–31.
105. Frohlich KL, Potvin L. Commentary: structure or agency? The importance of both for addressing social inequalities in health. Int J Epidemiol 2010; 39: 378–9.
106. Government Office for Science. Foresight. Tackling obesities: Future choices - Project report, 2007.
107. Bland JM, Altman DG. Best (but oft forgotten) practices: testing for treatment effects in randomized trials by separate analyses of changes from baseline in each group is a misleading approach. Am J Clin Nutr 2015; 102: 991–4.
108. Carter LM, Whiting SJ. Underreporting of energy intake, socioeconomic status, and expression of nutrient intake. Nutr Rev 1998; 56: 179–82.
109. Johansson G, Wikman A, Ahren AM, Hallmans G, Johansson I. Underreporting of energy intake in repeated 24-hour recalls related to gender, age, weight status, day of interview, educational level, reported food intake, smoking habits and area of living. Public Health Nutr 2001; 4: 919–27.