Scope and purpose
To provide evidence-informed WHO guidance on effective policy measures to support Member States in developing an enabling food environment to promote healthy diets and nutrition, the NFS established in 2018 the WHO Nutrition Guidance Expert Advisory Group (NUGAG) Subgroup on Policy Actions.
The Unit on Multisectoral Action in Food Systems (AFS) now serves as the Secretariat of the NUGAG Subgroup on Policy Actions, which is the WHO guideline development group for guidelines on food environment policies. The first meeting was held in December 2018, followed by a second meeting in December 2019 during which the undertaking of policy guidelines in the following areas was prioritized: nutrition labelling policies, policies to restrict marketing to children, fiscal policies and school food and nutrition policies.
A series of virtual meetings were held to progress the work of the NUGAG. The WHO guideline on policies to protect children from the harmful impact of food marketing was launched in July 2023. A public consultation was held for the final draft guideline on fiscal policies and the guideline will be launched in early 2024. The guideline on nutrition labelling policies is currently being prepared for public consultation.
The evidence that informs the current draft guideline on school food and nutrition policies includes literature up to mid-2020. Considering the growing evidence on school food and nutrition, in particular during and after the COVID-19 pandemic it was decided to conduct a rapid update of the systematic literature review. The results of the rapid update are now ready to be presented and discussed with the NUGAG Subgroup on Policy Actions to decide on the next steps and timelines for finalization of the WHO guideline on school food and nutrition policies.
Objective and expected outcomes
The objectives of the seventh meeting are to:
- review the outcomes of the rapid update of the systematic review on the effectiveness of school food and nutrition policies, and
- discuss and agree on the next steps and timelines for completion of the guidelines on school food and nutrition policies
The expected outcomes of the seventh meeting are, therefore, draft recommendations (including rationale and remarks, as required) on nutrition labelling policies.