/
Research
/
Project overview

Fast facts on fast food

More than 60% of Australian adults are now overweight and half of them are obese. The National Heart Foundation of Australia had to do something. Its Victorian branch came up with a good idea, the Healthy Dining Victoria Program – to be implemented in pubs and clubs – but it needed evidence on whether these types of programs work.

What did we do?

We did a (very) rapid literature review on interventions that promote healthy food choices worldwide.

The team included nine high-quality systematic reviews (in English) that focussed on behaviour in healthy populations and discovered:

1: The strategy with the strongest evidence for reducing calorie consumption was the provision of health information, provided it’s paired with interpretive information.

2: Social norms, like modelling ideal healthy choices, could influence food intake, but the literature was of lower quality.

3: Reviews of studies that tried manipulating portion or cutlery size to influence intake were inconclusive or poor quality and interestingly, one review found that this strategy works less well on overweight people.

The challenge:
Conduct a rapid review on interventions that have helped people make healthier food choices
Partners:
Ernst & Young
When:
2015-16
View the slideshow

Conclusion

The rapid review concluded that meaningful menu labelling, perhaps combined with social modelling, could be a good place to start.

A combination of behaviour change interventions are needed, not a magic bullet.

For its part, the Heart Foundation used the review to work with chefs and venues in normalising healthier choices.

Outcome

The National Heart Foundation said the rapid review, “Reinforced to Government that a combination of interventions are likely to provide the best outcome”.

The review also contracticted  ‘conventional wisdom’ around the effectiveness of crockery and cutlery size and that it has “used this challenge of conventional wisdom in subsequent campaign bids”.

It also said, “The evidence around establishing new social models/norms is one of the interventions we would be keen to try”.

We hope (with all our hearts) these interventions work.

Related projects

View all projects

Survey of skills gaps in med tech and pharma

Australia’s ‘Med Tech and Pharma’ (MTP) sector is a dynamic and critically important part of our economy, employing around 70,000* highly skilled workers across medical technology, biotechnology, pharmaceutical and digital health. The skills of MTP workers are valued around the world and organisations in the sector invest heavily in professional development and training. However, like most sectors, skills gaps remain. While many of these are well known, MTPConnect – the not-for-profit Industry Growth Centre aiming to establish Australia as an Asia-Pacific hub for MTP companies – wants to ensure the sector is positioned for an even more dynamic future, engaging BehaviourWorks Australia to conduct a formal analysis of skills and capacity.

Using a Hackathon to prioritise COVID-19 testing: An emergency response

Governments, health and other organisations are working around the clock to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. The wider community is also dealing with the reintroduction of restrictions and reacting in ways that are not always helpful, such as stockpiling essentials, not social distancing and sharing misleading information.

Using SMS messaging to increase vaccination rates

The Australian Government’s National Immunisation Program funds a variety of vaccines, including the three-dose Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. In Victoria, this is delivered by local councils through secondary schools. However, many students whose parents or guardians have consented to the vaccination are not getting all three doses, partly because some of them miss the school session. Councils don’t usually send reminders prior to school visits. However, research in similar contexts has shown it may be an effective way of improving vaccination rates.
Finance
Transport and road safety
Social inclusion
Conservation
Waste
Climate change
Other
Environmental education
Energy
Organisational change
Pollution
Health and safety

Have a project for us?

We'd love to help you unpack the problem. Get in touch.

Thanks for your interest.

Your message has been received.
We'll be in touch shortly.

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.