Trade liberalization and the diet transition: a public health response

Rayner, Geof; Hawkes, Corinna; Lang, Tim; Bello, Walden

doi:10.1093/heapro/dal053

Cited by 91 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 8 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…19 The research conducted to date has revealed little about the factors that drive or contain the spread of fast food and obesity. 16 Some authors argue that the rising consumption of unhealthy foods seen worldwide has been facilitated by trade liberalization 20 and foreign investment in the food and beverage industries, 8,[21][22][23] which have resulted in the proliferation of large transnational food companies. 20,24,25 Offer et al have found that high-income countries with market-liberal welfare regimes -most of which are also English-speaking -have a higher prevalence of obesity and easier access to fast food.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of market deregulation on fast food consumption and body mass index: a cross-national time series analysis

Vogli

Kouvonen

Gimeno

2014

Bull. World Health Organ.

139

100

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of market deregulation on fast food consumption and body mass index: a cross-national time series analysis

Vogli

Kouvonen

Gimeno

2014

Bull. World Health Organ.

139

100

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…There is widespread agreement that such downstream -and often unintended -consequences of trade policy making for health must be identified and described in order to ensure that appropriate complementary policies can be developed (4) . A further health implication of the trade liberalisation agenda is the facilitation of unhealthy consumption patterns related to the nutrition transition (4)(5)(6)(7)(8) . This transition is of growing concern in developing countries, where an observed convergence towards diets high in fat (particularly saturated fat) and sugar, and low in fibre has accompanied a rising burden of chronic disease (9,10) .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Trade liberalisation and the nutrition transition: mapping the pathways for public health nutritionists

Thow

2009

Public Health Nutr.

129

103

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: To describe pathways through which trade liberalisation affects the food environment, relevant to the nutrition transition, in order to enable public health nutritionists to understand trade policy as a macro-level influence on food consumption. Design: The pathways mapped in the present paper are based on the agreements of the World Trade Organization, which shape national policy. Implications for nutrition are presented based on a comprehensive literature review, and case studies are used to illustrate the various pathways. Setting: Developing countries are currently experiencing a nutrition transition, resulting in dietary patterns associated with chronic disease. Chronic diseases are amenable to prevention, and trade policy has been highlighted as a potential avenue for nutrition-related prevention. Results: Trade liberalisation influences the food environment through facilitating trade in goods and services, enabling investment and decreasing support/protection for domestic industry. These policy outcomes facilitate the nutrition transition particularly through increasing the availability and affordability of processed foods and animal products. The framework highlights the complex relationship between trade policy and the nutrition transition, with both negative and positive outcomes arising from different aspects of trade liberalisation. Conclusions: Policy change associated with trade liberalisation has created incentives for consumption patterns associated with the nutrition transition, but has also had some positive nutritional outcomes. As a result, it is important for public health nutritionists to consider the implications of trade policy decisions in their efforts to prevent and control diet-related chronic diseases.

show abstract

“…There is a close correspondence between a rise in FDI and increased investments in processed foods. In Latin America, between 1988 and 1997, FDI in food industries grew from US$ 222 million to US $ 3.3 billion [37]. Supermarkets have focused on highly processed foods because of their long shelf lives and for the potential economies of scale [38].…”

Section: Specific Pathway Products Food Trade and Chronic Diseasementioning

confidence: 99%

Framing International Trade and Chronic Disease

Labonté

Mohindra

Lencucha

2013

Global Handbook on Noncommunicable Diseases and Health Promotion

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There is an emerging evidence base that global trade is linked with the rise of chronic disease in many low and middle-income countries (LMICs). This linkage is associated, in part, with the global diffusion of unhealthy lifestyles and health damaging products posing a particular challenge to countries still facing high burdens of communicable disease. We developed a generic framework which depicts the determinants and pathways connecting global trade with chronic disease. We then applied this framework to three key risk factors for chronic disease: unhealthy diets, alcohol, and tobacco. This led to specific 'product pathways', which can be further refined and used by health policy-makers to engage with their country's trade policy-makers around health impacts of ongoing trade treaty negotiations, and by researchers to continue refining an evidence base on how global trade is affecting patterns of chronic disease. The prevention and treatment of chronic diseases is now rising on global policy agendas, highlighted by the UN Summit on Noncommunicable Diseases (September 2011). Briefs and declarations leading up to this Summit reference the role of globalization and trade in the spread of risk factors for these diseases, but emphasis is placed on interventions to change health behaviours and on voluntary corporate responsibility. The findings summarized in this article imply the need for a more concerted approach to regulate trade-related risk factors and thus more engagement between health and trade policy sectors within and between nations. An explicit recognition of the role of trade policies in the spread of noncommunicable disease risk factors should be a minimum outcome of the September 2011 Summit, with a commitment to ensure that future trade treaties do not increase such risks.

show abstract

Trade liberalization and the diet transition: a public health response

Cited by 91 publications

References 8 publications

The influence of market deregulation on fast food consumption and body mass index: a cross-national time series analysis

The influence of market deregulation on fast food consumption and body mass index: a cross-national time series analysis

Trade liberalisation and the nutrition transition: mapping the pathways for public health nutritionists

Framing International Trade and Chronic Disease

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About