The many meanings of policy instruments: exploring individual and structural determinants in obesity policy

Abstract

Health inequalities researchers have long advocated for governments to adopt policy instruments that address structural determinants of health rather than targeting individual behaviours. The assumption behind this position is that such instruments might challenge a core neoliberal principle of individualism embedded in the prevailing health policy paradigm. We critique this assumption by highlighting the discursive construction of policy instruments, and their discursive effects. Using the UK’s Tackling Obesity policy as a case study, we demonstrate how instruments designed to target structural determinants of health (such as food advertisement regulation) can actively sustain – rather than challenge, the dominant policy paradigm. We call this phenomenon ‘upstream individualism’, exploring how it relates to tensions in the research-policy relationship, and its relevance beyond health policy. We argue that instruments can shape policy change and continuity, including at a paradigm level, and that ‘upstream individualism’ provides a useful basis for theorising these power dynamics. This article contributes to the constructivist public policy literature by noting how policy instruments meant to challenge the discursive construction of individualism within public health can ultimately reinforce it.

Research on the identification and evolution of health industry policy instruments in China

“…The provincial policy analysis should not be neglected due to local governments’ distinctive measures, which might provide more samples to compare the differences ( 11 ). Policy instruments have been advocated by governments to address the structural determinants of health ( 12 ), but it is difficult to extend the research objects through a case study. States in America adopt a mix of policy instruments to regulate competitive food sold in schools to ameliorate the nutrition environment of the school, and policy instrument analysis with manual coding provides the reference for the effectiveness of the various policy instrument mixes ( 13 ).…”