Looking Ahead: Health Impact Assessment of Front-Of-Pack Nutrition Labelling Schema as a Public Health Measure.

This study aimed to describe the underlying process, used methods and major recommendations emerging from a comprehensive and prospective health impact assessment of the endorsement of a front-of-pack nutrition labelling (FOP-NL) system by the Portuguese health authorities. A mixed-methods approach was used to gather information on the impact of four FOP-NL schemes on consumers' selection of food products according to the perception of their nutritional quality, combining a systematic literature review, focus groups (FG), in-depth individual interviews, and an open-label crossover randomized controlled study. The relevance of FOP-NL as a public health promotion policy has emerged as a consensual idea among either FGs' participants (i.e., consumers and experts), or interviewed stakeholders. Although all of the evaluated FOP-NLs result better than no system on promoting the choice of the healthiest product, the effectiveness of easy-to-interpret FOP-NL among vulnerable groups raised concerns related to the need of integrating specific nutritional information to promote a better self-management of chronic diseases, and related to the level of literacy of consumers, which could impair the usage of FOP-NL. Educational campaigns addressing skills to use FOP-NL is recommended. Furthermore, a monitoring strategy should be considered to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of this policy in promoting healthier food choices, and in reducing diet-related non-communicable diseases burden.

Impact of different front-of-pack nutrition labels on online food choices.

Front-of-pack nutrition labels (FOP-NL) are efficient tools for increasing consumers' awareness of the nutritional quality of food products, prompting healthier food choices. The main goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of four FOP-NL schemes - Traffic Light label (TL), Guideline Daily Amounts (%GDA), Nutri-Score (NS) and Health Star Rating (HSR) - on consumers' selection of food products according to perceived nutritional quality. A cross-sectional open-label crossover randomized controlled study was carried out among Portuguese consumers. A web-based questionnaire was used to assess participants' a) preferences regarding FOP-NLs and b) capacity to select healthy products in a food selection task using the information from FOP-NL schemes. When performing the selection task, participants had the option to indicate that they could not decide simply based on the presented FOP-NL (requiring more information). Overall, 357 adults participated in the study. Regarding consumers' preferences, TL received the most favorable responses, while NS received the fewest. All FOP-NLs performed better than the no-nutritional label control condition in the food selection task. The highest proportion of correct choices was obtained for TL (72.3%), followed by HSR (70.9%), %GDA (70.0%) and NS (62.2%), though no significant differences were found among FOP-NLs. Percentages of respondents indicating not being able to answer due to lack of information affected the proportion of correct choices, with 10.3% for TL, 12.9% for %GDA, 14.6% for HSR, and 25.8% for NS, indicating they were unable to choose without additional information. Although no particular FOP-NL system stood out as the most significantly effective, TL was the most preferred by Portuguese adults. Long-term real-world evidence is necessary to assess the impact of FOP-NL systems on individuals' food choices.

Health professionals moving to... and from Portugal.

The mobility of health professionals in the European Union is a phenomenon which policy-makers must take into account to provide the conditions to adjust for demand and supply of health services. This paper presents the case of Portugal, a country which at the same time imports and exports health workers. Since the early 1990s Portugal became a destination country receiving foreign health care professionals. This situation is now changing with the current economic situation as fewer immigrants come and more Portuguese emigrate. Foreigners coming to Portugal do so in part for similar reasons that bring Portuguese to want to emigrate, mainly the search for better work conditions and professional development opportunities. The emigration of Portuguese health professionals is also stimulated by the difficulty for recently graduated nurses, dentists and diagnostic and therapeutic technicians to find employment, low salaries in the public and private sectors, heavy workloads, remuneration not related to performance and poor career prospects. The paradoxes described in this study illustrate the consequences of the absence of a policy for the health professions. Strategies based on evidence, and on an integrated information system that captures the dynamic evolution of the workforce in health are not only necessary but also a good investment.