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Background: Institutions are a recommended setting for dietary interventions and nutrition policies as these provide an opportunity to improve health by creating healthy food environments. In Australia, state and territory governments encourage or mandate institutions in their jurisdiction to adopt nutrition policies. However, no work has analysed the policy design across settings and jurisdictions. This study aimed to compare the design and components of government-led institutional nutrition policies between Australian states and territories, determine gaps in existing policies, and assess the potential for developing stronger, more comprehensive policies.Methods: Government-led institutional nutrition policies, in schools, workplaces, health facilities and other public settings, were identified by searching health and education department websites for each Australian state and territory government. This was supplemented by data from other relevant stakeholder websites and from the Food Policy Index Australia website. A framework for monitoring and evaluating nutrition policies in publicly-funded institutions was used to extract data and a qualitative analysis of the design and content of institutional nutrition policies was performed. Comparative analyses between the jurisdictions and institution types were conducted, and policies were assessed for comprehensiveness.Results: Twenty-seven institutional nutrition policies were identified across eight states and territories in Australia. Most policies in health facilities and public schools were mandatory, though most workplace policies were voluntary. Twenty-four included nutrient criteria, and 22 included guidelines for catering/fundraising/advertising. While most included implementation guides or tools and additional supporting resources, less than half included tools/timelines for monitoring and evaluation. The policy design, components and nutrient criteria varied between jurisdictions and institution types, though all were based on the Australian Dietary Guidelines.Conclusions: Nutrition policies in institutions present an opportunity to create healthy eating environments and improve population health in Australia. However, the design of these policies, including lack of key components such as accountability mechanisms, and jurisdictional differences, may be a barrier to implementation and prevent the policies having their intended impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Understanding health behaviour changes during the COVID-19 pandemic can assist in developing strategies to promote healthy lifestyles at such times. The aim of this exploratory study was to examine whether the frequency of consuming unhealthy foods and beverages changed during lockdown and whether certain population subgroups were more likely to make such changes., Method: An online survey was administered to a national sample of 4022 Australian adults (51% female, mean age 48 years). Generalised linear models with generalised estimating equations were used to identify whether demographic characteristics (age, gender, education, presence of children in the household, number of people in the household) and beliefs related to COVID-19 were associated with changes in the frequency of consuming alcohol, sweet snacks, salty snacks, and sugary beverages from pre to during lockdown., Results: Overall, the frequency of consuming the four assessed unhealthy products did not change during lockdown. However, being male and having children at home were consistently associated with unhealthy changes, whereas believing that alcohol or unhealthy diets would exacerbate COVID-19 severity was linked to a decreased frequency of consuming these products respectively. Age, education, and living with more people were also associated with changes in the frequency of consuming some product categories., Conclusion: During lockdown, certain population subgroups appeared to be at increased risk of more frequent consumption of unhealthy foods and beverages. Believing certain consumption habits are linked to adverse health impacts of COVID was found to reduce frequency of consumption of related products, presenting a potential focus for future public health actions., (© 2023. The Author(s).)