Policies for encouraging healthier food choices

What is the role of government policies in encouraging healthier food choices to fight the current overweight and obesity epidemics. This report examines the evidence base on the health implications of unhealthy diets and its associated burden on health systems. It takes stock of current knowledge on the effectiveness of policy instruments and proposes a four-track policy approach to encourage healthier food choices that is consistent with wider objectives for the food and agriculture sector. This policy approach includes demand side public interventions, voluntary collaboration with the food industry at the supply-demand interface, firmer regulations when public-private incentives are misaligned, and fiscal measures. An important insight from this report is that effective policies require a robust evidence base, which in turn requires effective data systems. The Annex takes stock of how well developed food data systems are currently across a range of OECD countries and provides some recommendations on how to move forward.