Dialogue summary: improving the healthiness of food environments in the Caribbean

ABSTRACT

The evidence brief on Improving the Healthiness of Food Environments was used as the starting point for the deliberations during the stakeholder dialogue. The evidence brief recognized that the relationship between environmental factors and dietary choices was complex and multifaceted, however, it positioned four issues as the most important to understanding the problem in the CaribbeanFirstly, Caribbean States were identified as net food importing countries with heavy reliance on imports as the main source of food, and this resulted in wide availability and affordability of highly-processed unhealthy foods on the domestic market;Secondly, the surrounding environment faced by some groups, including children, urban populations and the poor made them more susceptible to poor dietary choices.Thirdly, the food choices made in response to macro and micro environmental influences led to a high prevalence of diet-related NCDs which placed heavy direct and indirect cost burdens on Caribbean countries;Finally, the brief noted that despite the range of cost-effective evidence-based policy interventions available to address the various issues related to unhealthy food environments, Caribbean countries faced a number of implementation challenges that constrained their ability to mount a comprehensive response.