Australian policy levers for obesity prevention in early childhood

Abstract

The five studies in this thesis focused on the actions undertaken and policy infrastructure provided by the Australian Federal, State and Territory Governments to prevent obesity in early childhood. The first study used the WHO Ending Childhood Obesity implementation plan to facilitate policy mapping and compare Australia’s national action to five similar countries (published paper).

The second study explored the role of intergovernmentalism in achieving national food system action and policy coherence across states working on the same policy areas (published paper). The third study used policy mapping to compare states and territories and explored their eclectic approaches to obesity policy (published paper). Both studies interviewed senior officials in health departments in Australian jurisdictions to understand the barriers and enablers of prevention policy implementation.

The fourth study used the New South Wales (NSW) Healthy Eating and Active Living (HEAL) Strategy 2013-2018 as a case study of cross-sectoral collaboration in Australia (paper under review). An in-depth policy mapping tool was developed to undertake iterative policy mapping. Semi-structured interviews with 25 senior public officials across 18 agencies in the NSW Government explored the factors effecting implementation of obesity prevention policies.

The fifth study explored the perspectives of mothers of young children living in NSW (published paper). Survey questions were embedded into a follow-up cross-sectional survey in a large, randomised control trial – Communicating Healthy Beginnings Advice by Telephone. Mothers were asked how much they supported six different types of policy interventions by the NSW Government. These included food and physical activity environments, settings, support programs and routine measurement of children at health appointments. Potential confounders were included in the analysis to explore associations with their level of policy support.