Understanding Prevention Networks in a Local Government Area: Insights From a Social Network Analysis Among Western Australian Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity Prevention Programs.

This study aimed to use systems thinking tools to understand network relationships to inform discussions, policy, and practice to improve nutrition, physical activity, and overweight/obesity prevention activities in a Western Australian local government area. An audit of nutrition, physical activity, and obesity prevention activities was conducted, and identified organizations were invited to participate in an organizational network survey. Social network analysis (SNA) determined the extent to which organizations shared information, knowledge, and resources; engaged in joint program planning; applied for and shared funding; and identified operational barriers and contributors. SNA data were mapped and analyzed using UCINET 6 and Netdraw software. Five organizations within the network were identified as core; the remainder were periphery. The strongest networks were sharing information, and the weakest was funding. The connections were centralized to one organization, enabling them to readily influence other organizations and network operations. Remaining organizations indicated limited partnership across the networks. Strengthened collaborations and partnerships are essential to health promotion, as they extend reach and organizational capabilities. This study provides a process for undertaking network analysis, identifying leverage points to facilitate communication and information sharing, and reorienting of collaborations and partnerships to consolidate scarce resources and act strategically within a bounded area. There is a need for stronger relationships between organizations and a reorientation of partnerships to facilitate resource sharing within the local government area, to improve nutrition, physical activity, and obesity prevention practices. SNA can assist in understanding organizational prevention networks within a bounded area to support future planning of practices and policy.

Initiatives and partnerships in an Australian metropolitan obesity prevention system: a social network analysis.

BACKGROUND: Limited resources make prevention of complex population-level issues such as obesity increasingly challenging. Collaboration and partnerships between organisations operating in the same system can assist, however, there is a paucity of research into how relationships function at a local level. The aim of this study was to audit initiatives, explore networks, and identify potential opportunities for improving the obesity prevention system in a Health Service area of Western Australia (WA). METHODS: A mixed-methods study was undertaken in a metropolitan Health Service in Perth, WA in 2019-20. Structured face-to-face interviews (n = 51) were conducted with organisations engaged in obesity prevention, to identify prevention initiatives and their characteristics using a Systems Inventory tool. The Research Team identified the 30 most active organisations during the Systems Inventory, and an online Organisational Network Survey was administered to explore: relationships across six domains; partnership duration; frequency of interaction with other organisations; barriers to implementation; and key contributions to obesity prevention. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise barriers, contributions and Systems Inventory data. Organisational Network Survey data were analysed using social network analysis through UCINET 6 for Windows and Netdraw software. Whole network and cohesion scores were calculated: average degree; density; diameter; and degree centralization. Core-periphery analysis was conducted to identify densely connected core and sparsely connected periphery organisations. RESULTS: The Systems Inventory identified 189 unique prevention initiatives, mostly focusing on individual-level behaviour change. Fifty four percent (n = 15) of the Organisational Network Survey respondent organisations and most core organisations (67%, n = 8) were government. The information and knowledge sharing network had a density of 45% indicating a high level of information and knowledge exchange between organisations. The lowest densities were found within the receiving (3.3%), providing (5.5%) and sharing (5.6%) funding networks, suggesting that these formal relationships were the least established. CONCLUSION: Applying a systems thinking lens to local obesity prevention revealed that initiatives conducted focused on individual-level behaviour change and that collaboration and communication between organisations focused on information sharing. Capturing the extent and nature of initiatives and the way partnerships operate to improve obesity prevention can help to identify opportunities to strengthen the networks.

Alcohol brands' use of age-restriction controls on Facebook and Instagram in Australia.

OBJECTIVES: Since 2017, the self-regulatory alcohol advertising system in Australia has required alcohol marketers to activate age-restriction controls on social networking sites to prevent access to children. With no monitoring mechanisms, the level of compliance with this requirement is unknown. We aimed to identify the extent to which the dominant alcohol companies in Australia have activated age-restriction controls on their official brand accounts on Facebook and Instagram. STUDY TYPE: Nonexperimental descriptive study. METHODS: We identified the brands owned by the top three beer, wine and spirit companies by market share in Australia, and located their official Facebook and Instagram accounts. International accounts were used when Australia-specific accounts did not exist. Two researchers independently attempted to access all accounts on a computer by entering the URL into a web browser that was not logged into either platform. We recorded the accessibility and audience size of each account. RESULTS: For the 195 alcohol brands that were available for sale in Australia through the nine top companies, we identified 153 Facebook accounts (84 Australian, 69 international) and 151 Instagram accounts (77 Australian, 74 international). We found 28% of Instagram and 5% of Facebook accounts did not have age-restriction controls activated. Similar proportions of Australian and international accounts on both platforms were not using controls. Only two companies were compliant across all of their accounts. CONCLUSIONS: Compliance with the industry marketing code requirement for age-restriction controls is inconsistent among the largest alcohol companies operating in Australia. The industry-managed regulatory system is not preventing children's access to alcohol content on social networking sites.

The illusion of choice: an exploratory study looking at the top 10 food companies in Australia and their brand connections.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the brands owned by each of the 10 top grossing food companies operating in Australia and visually represent them on an infographic. METHODS: Desktop research was conducted to determine Australia's 10 largest food companies based on revenue. Brand ownership for each of the companies was traced through financial records and company publications. This information was then visually documented in the form of an infographic 'food web' to clearly illustrate company and brand ownership. RESULTS: Fonterra, Coca-Cola Amatil, Lion, Murray Goulburn, George Weston Foods, Wilmar, Nestle, Mondelez, Parmalat and Asahi were determined as the top 10 food companies operating in Australia. The food web illustrated that brand ownership ranged from 75 (Nestle) to four (Fonterra) brands per company. CONCLUSIONS: The food web illustrates the dominance of each of these major companies within Australia and shows how their diverse brand ownership limits consumer choice. Implications for public health: This study expands on current knowledge and further defines the breadth of market influence that the top 10 food companies have within the Australian food context, and how they use their brand power to create an illusion of choice for consumers. The food web will assist in promoting transparency of brand ownership in the Australian food market, therefore allowing consumers to make an informed decision about the food they purchase, and will allow community and other organisations to make an informed decision about which companies they form partnerships with.