Evaluation of an experiment to increase availability of healthier snack foods in vending machines situated within English sports facilities.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of increased availability of healthier options on purchasing of different types of vending snack products sold in English leisure (sports) centres. DESIGN: An evaluation of an intervention using pre-post methods and interrupted time series analysis. Products within the vending machines were altered over three phases to increase the availability of healthier options, using agreed nutrition criteria - Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services (GBSF) for England - as a guide, as well as product availability. The primary outcome was the change in mean weekly purchased energy between the first and third phase. Secondary outcomes included changes by phase and by week in weekly number of purchases, fats, sugars and salt for all products combined and by individual product categories. SETTING: Fifteen sports centres in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK. PARTICIPANTS: Snack products sold in eighteen vending machines. RESULTS: Energy purchased reduced from baseline to phase 2, for all product categories combined, by 47·25 MJ (95 % CI (-61·22, -33·27)) per machine and by 279 kJ, (95 % CI (-325, -266)) per product unit. There were reductions in most nutrients purchased in all individual product categories except chocolate confectionery. Nutrients per product unit decreased for all product categories except saturated fat in chocolate confectionery. Minimal underlying trends in the baseline phase were identified, indicating changes in outcomes were likely to be due to the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Introducing standards to increase availability of healthier snack products in vending machines is feasible without substantially affecting sales.

Author Correction: Data visualisation to support obesity policy: case studies of data tools for planning and transport policy in the UK.

In the original version of this Article the following funding details were omitted from the Acknowledgements section.

Correction: Data visualisation to support obesity policy: case studies of data tools for planning and transport policy in the UK.

The financial support for this Article was not fully acknowledged. The Acknowledgements should have included the following: "This work was undertaken by the Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR), a UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC) Public Health Research Centre of Excellence. Funding from the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Economic and Social Research Council, Medical Research Council, the National Institute for Health Research [Grant Number ES/G007462/1], and the Wellcome Trust [Grant Number 087636/Z/08/Z], under the auspices of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration, is gratefully acknowledged."

Data visualisation to support obesity policy: case studies of data tools for planning and transport policy in the UK.

Data visualisation is becoming an established way to drive discovery and develop theory and hypotheses among researchers. Data visualisations can also serve as tools for knowledge translation with policy makers, who are increasingly using data and evidence to inform and implement policy. For obesity policy, data visualisation tools can help policy makers and other professionals understand the socio-spatial distribution of risk factors and quantify social and environmental conditions that are recognised upstream determinants of diet, activity and obesity. The demand for and use of data visualisation tools can be driven by an identified policy need, which can be met by researchers and data scientists. Alternatively, researchers are developing and testing data visualisations, which may be subsequently adapted for, and adopted by policy users.Two recently-released interactive data visualisation tools in the UK illustrate these points. The Propensity to Cycle Tool (PCT) was developed with funding from the UK government to inform the investment of cycling infrastructure in England. The Food environment assessment tool (Feat) evolved as a translational output from a programme of epidemiological research. This article uses PCT and Feat as case studies, drawing parallels and contrasts between them. We discuss these two tools from policy context and scientific underpinnings, to product launch and evaluation. We review challenges inherent in the development and dissemination of data tools for policy, including the need for technical expertise, feedback integration, long-term sustainability, and provision of training and user support. Finally, we attempt to derive learning points that may help overcome challenges associated with the creation, dissemination and sustaining of data tools for policy. We contend that, despite a number of challenges, data tools provide a novel gateway between researchers and a range of stakeholders, who are seeking ways of accessing and using evidence to inform obesity programs and policies.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of the Ministry of Food cooking programme on self-reported food consumption and confidence with cooking.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of the Ministry of Food (MoF) cooking programme on self-reported food consumption and confidence with cooking. DESIGN: A quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the MoF 8-week cooking course, using a pre-test/post-test study. Pre, post and 6-month follow-up quantitative outcomes were measured using self-administered questionnaires to record number of portions of fruit and vegetables (F&V) consumed per day, number of snacks consumed per day and participants' cooking confidence levels (highest score of 5). Qualitative evaluations were undertaken using structured telephone interviews. SETTING: MoF centre in Leeds Kirkgate Market, UK. SUBJECTS: Adults (n 795, 43 % male) on MoF courses from 2010 to 2014, 462 of whom completed questionnaires at all three time points. RESULTS: Six months after the course, self-reported F&V intake increased significantly by 1·5 (95 % CI 1·3, 1·6, P<0·001) portions per day to 4·1 (95 % CI 4·0, 4·3). The number of snacks reported decreased significantly over the same period by -0·9 (CI-1·0, -0·8, P<0·001) snacks per day. Cooking confidence increased over the same period by 1·7 (95 % CI 1·6, 1·9, P<0·001) to 4·4 (CI 4·4, 4·5). Age and disability, but not deprivation or ethnicity, were associated with changes in self-reported F&V intake and cooking confidence scores at 6 months; and gender with the latter outcome. Qualitative results supported quantitative findings and revealed specific beneficial gains in cooking skills/preparation, nutritional awareness, food purchasing and other social benefits. CONCLUSIONS: MoF community-based cooking interventions can have significant positive effects on dietary behaviour, food choice and cooking confidence.