Are Iran's Current Policies and Infrastructure Supporting Healthier Food Environments?

Abstract

BackgroundIran has developed a comprehensive action plan aimed at reducing premature mortality as a result of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) by 25% by 2025.ObjectiveThis study aimed to describe and assess current policies and actions that public sectors in Iran are taking to create healthy food environments for prevention and management of obesity, NCDs, and their related inequalities.MethodsThe Healthy Food Environment Policy Index was the principal tool used, and interaction with key stakeholders was the main approach. Available evidence of policy implementation was collated for 47 good practice indicators across 13 policy and infrastructure support domains through searches on institutional websites and verified by government stakeholders. The final evidence report was rated by a national expert panel based on the level of implementation compared to international best practices.ResultsOverall, 89 relevant documents were identified, classified, and analyzed, comprising 5 constitutional laws or general policies, 20 parliamentary mandates, 5 national documents, 22 national regulations, and 37 national programs which were categorized into policy (n = 62) and infrastructure (n = 42) components. Notably, the highest level of evidence was observed in Leadership5 (14 documents), Provision1 (13 documents), and Provision2 (8 documents). No indicator was rated as "high" implementation, while nearly two-thirds of the indicators were rated as low or very low.ConclusionsDespite the Iranian government's broad landscape in supporting policies that help create healthier food environments. The findings also show the need to reform all of their policies and supportive infrastructure in order to achieve significant results.