The full picture of people’s realities must be considered to deliver better diets for all

Abstract

Efforts to address poor-quality diets have stepped up considerably in recent years, but the problem of inadequate, unhealthy, unsustainable and unequal diets persists. Here we argue that to get policies and interventions working more effectively and equitably, a fresh approach is needed—one that considers the full picture of people’s realities. People’s realities interact to shape the way people respond to and engage with policies and interventions, thereby influencing their impact, particularly, albeit not only, on dietary inequalities. We propose a tool that brings together key realities that shape impact, including the material, economic and psychosocial realities that people face in their households, families, food environments, social interactions and cultures. The purpose of the tool is to help policymakers, intervention practitioners and researchers committed to improving diets achieve greater success by helping them think through the full picture of people’s realities when identifying, designing, implementing and evaluating policies and interventions. Engaging with people’s realities is key to the success of policies and interventions aimed at achieving better diets for all. Drawing on social practice theory, this Perspective proposes a tool—the full picture—to help researchers, practitioners and policymakers think through the full range of people’s interacting realities that shape the impact of policies and interventions designed to improve diets.