Sustainable prevention of obesity through integrated strategies: The SPOTLIGHT project's conceptual framework and design.

Background: The prevalence of overweight and obesity in Europe is high. It is a major cause of the overall rates of many of the main chronic (or non communicable) diseases in this region and is characterized by an unequal socio-economic distribution within the population. Obesity is largely determined by modifiable lifestyle behaviours such as low physical activity levels, sedentary behaviour and consumption of energy dense diets.

Use of folic acid supplements, particularly by low-income and young women: a series of systematic reviews to inform public health policy in the UK.

Objective: To provide a basis for making recommendations on the potential to improve use of folic acid supplements in the UK, particularly among low-income and young women.

Design: Systematic reviews of relevant research from 1989 to May 2006 in Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Results: Twenty-six systematic reviews and/or meta-analyses were identified from the wider public health literature, and eighteen studies on the effectiveness of preconception interventions were included.

Fortification of selected foodstuffs with folic acid in the UK: consumer research carried out to inform policy recommendations.

Background: The UK Food Standards Agency Board identified four options to increase folate intake in women of reproductive age in order to reduce the risk of neural tube defect (NTD) affected pregnancies; these ranged from continuing with current policy, to mandatory fortification of bread or flour with folic acid. In order to appraise these options, the agency carried out a consultation, and also commissioned four pieces of research. This paper provides detailed information about two of the research studies, which used qualitative research approaches to gather consumer evidence.

Introduction to the Food Standards Agency's (FSA) food choice research programmes and to the report of the FSA seminar on peer-led approaches to dietary change held in July 2006.

Objective: To describe the Food Standards Agency's (FSA) Food Acceptability & Choice and Food Choice Inequalities research programmes and the context for the FSA seminar on peer-led approaches to dietary change held in July 2006.

Results: The aims of the FSA's food choice research programmes are to identify the social, psychological and physical barriers to achieving a healthier diet and how they might be addressed. Results of the research provide the scientific basis for some FSA advice on healthy eating.

Nutrition professionals' perception of the 'healthiness' of individual foods.

Objectives: This paper describes the development of an online questionnaire for testing nutrition professionals' perceptions of the 'healthiness' of individual foods and the results of administering that questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed to produce a standard ranking of foods that can be used as a tool for testing nutrient profile models.

Design: The questionnaire asked respondents to categorise 40 foods (from a master list of 120) in one of six positions, ranging from less to more healthy.

Testing nutrient profile models using data from a survey of nutrition professionals.

Objective: To compare nutrient profile models with a standard ranking of 120 foods.

Design: Over 700 nutrition professionals were asked to categorise 120 foods into one of six positions on the basis of their healthiness. These categorisations were used to produce a standard ranking of the 120 foods.

Developing nutrient profile models: a systematic approach.

Objective: Nutrient profiling can be defined as the 'the science of categorising foods according to their nutritional composition'. The purpose of the present paper is to describe a systematic and logical approach to nutrient profiling.

Design: A seven-stage decision-making process is proposed and, as an illustration of how the approach might operate in practice, the development of a nutrient profiling model for the purpose of highlighting breakfast cereals that are 'high in fat, sugar or salt' is described.

Consumer understanding and use of nutrition labelling: a systematic review.

Objective: To explore published and unpublished research into consumer understanding and use of nutrition labelling which is culturally applicable in Europe.

Design: A systematic review undertaken between July 2002 and February 2003.

Results: One hundred and three papers were identified that reported on consumer understanding or use of nutrition labelling, most originating from North America or northern Europe.