INFORMAS Europe is a European network of research groups measuring food environments, investigating the impact of food environments and related policies on health and assessing the implementation of recommended food environment policies by the main actors to increase accountability for action.
The specific objectives of the network are:
- Collect, collate and analyze data on public and private sector policies and actions, food environments, population diets, obesity and NCDs
- Compare and communicate the progress on improving food environments against best practice benchmarks, between countries and over time
- Use the results to strengthen public health efforts, particularly by supporting the translation of relevant evidence into public and private sector actions.
What is INFORMAS?
INFORMAS (International Network for Food and Obesity / Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) Research, Monitoring and Action Support) is a global network of public-interest organisations and researchers that aims to monitor, benchmark and support public and private sector actions to increase healthy food environments and reduce obesity and NCDs and their related inequalities.
The INFORMAS framework consists of two ‘process’ modules that monitor the policies and actions of the public and private sectors, and seven ‘impact’ modules that monitor the key characteristics of food environments. Monitoring frameworks and indicators have been developed for the modules to provide consistent data collection and analysis.
What are food environments?
Unhealthy diets and excess energy intake are modifiable factors that contribute to disease and disability in Europe. One of the main factors contributing to unhealthy diets is unhealthy food environments, defined as the collective physical, economic, policy and sociocultural surroundings, opportunities and conditions that influence people’s food and beverage choices and nutritional status.
Healthy Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI)
Food-EPI is a tool and process to assess the extent of implementation of recommended food environment policies by national governments compared with international best practices and to derive priority actions to fill implementation gaps.
Business Impact Assessment on Obesity and Population Nutrition (BIA-Obesity)
BIA-Obesity is a tool and process to measure the commitments, performance and disclosure practices of the major food companies at the national level.
News from STOP
- STOP and WHO launch their toolkit to guide and shape health-driven policymaking June 16, 2022Starting today, policy makers may access new tools to help them direct and prioritize policy options in addressing childhood obesity and improving health across Europe. The STOP Project and the World Health Organization (WHO) have […]
- World Obesity Day 2022: Everybody Needs to Act to address the root causes of childhood obesity March 2, 2022Obesity in children has been a cause of concern for decades, but with the effects of the pandemic exacerbating the issue, it has now become a serious public health crisis. The STOP Project, 24 organisations, […]
- Assessing food companies’ commitments and practices on food environments and population nutrition in France February 24, 2022We have long been aware of the link between food environments and risk of overweight and obesity, something which has been exacerbated in recent months by COVID-19. By 2030, obesity is expected to affect over […]
- An interview with Professor Mojca Gabrijelčič Blenkuš November 16, 2021In a recent interview, we talked with Prof Mojca Gabrijelčič Blenkuš, a medical doctor and public health specialist. Prof Gabrijelčič is a member of the STOP consortium and coordinator of the Joint Action Best Practices […]
- PEN workshop on quantifying the impact of food and lifestyle policies November 15, 2021The second and final workshop of Work Package 3 (WP3) within the Policy Evaluation Network (PEN) project took place at the University of Bologna on 6-8 September 2021, under the title “Quantifying the impact of […]
- Policy Laboratory – Building momentum and collective action to address obesity in Europe November 15, 2021Over the past three years, World Obesity has compiled a series of policy dossiers to provide a summary of evidence and resources to help policymakers, NGOs, and others when seeking to implement obesity-related policies in […]
- Towards a childhood free from unhealth food marketing: Exploring the next frontier for European action November 15, 2021The evidence is clear: unhealthy food marketing affects what children eat, and ultimately, their health and well-being. An event convened by the European Public Health Alliance on 9th November, moderated by STOP consortium member Nikolai […]
- STOP Project featured in Barilla Foundation’s latest publication November 15, 2021In May 2021, the STOP Project was featured in Barilla Foundation’s latest publication Europe and Food. Ensuring environmental, health and social benefits for the global transition. The report is focused on assessing food systems across […]
- From Science to Policy Implementation: a joint conference between STOP & JA Best-ReMaP November 15, 2021In parallel with the Slovenia presidency 2021, this 17th-18th November, a high-level event on food policy being co-organised by the STOP project with our partner project Joint Action Best Practices in Nutrition (JA Best-ReMaP). The conference will support the […]
- Paediatric teams in front of childhood obesity: A qualitative study within the STOP project November 15, 2021In the Balearic Islands, the prevalence of overweight and obesity is 14.7% and 10.4% prospectively. A new study published in the framework of the STOP project assessed the attitudes and feelings of Spanish paediatric staff […]