Academic Journal
Local government policies restricting unhealthy outdoor food advertising in Australia: stakeholder perspectives identify political willingness is key to overcoming barriers.
| Τίτλος: | Local government policies restricting unhealthy outdoor food advertising in Australia: stakeholder perspectives identify political willingness is key to overcoming barriers. |
|---|---|
| Συγγραφείς: | Bivoltsis A; Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute, School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, WA, 6027, Australia. a.bivoltsis@ecu.edu.au., Klug F; Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute, School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, WA, 6027, Australia., Francis J; Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute, School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, WA, 6027, Australia.; The Kids Research Institute Australia, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia.; School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia., Whitton C; Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute, School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, WA, 6027, Australia.; School of Population Health, Curtin University, Kent Street, Bentley, WA, 6102, Australia., Trapp GSA; Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute, School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, WA, 6027, Australia.; The Kids Research Institute Australia, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia.; School of Medicine, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia., Pulker CE; Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute, School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, WA, 6027, Australia.; School of Population Health, Curtin University, Kent Street, Bentley, WA, 6102, Australia. |
| Πηγή: | Health research policy and systems [Health Res Policy Syst] 2026 Apr 20; Vol. 24 (1). Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Apr 20. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: BioMed Central Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 101170481 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1478-4505 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 14784505 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Health Res Policy Syst Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Original Publication: [London] : BioMed Central, 2003- |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Advertising*/legislation & jurisprudence , Politics* , Policy Making* , Local Government* , Public Health* , Health Policy* , Food* , Stakeholder Participation*, Humans ; Western Australia ; Nutrition Policy ; Australia ; Food Industry |
| Περίληψη: | Background: Unhealthy outdoor food advertising is strongly linked to poor diet, highlighting the need for policies. Western Australian (WA) local governments (LGs) can restrict advertising on their owned infrastructure through their Public Health Plans, but limited policy action has occurred. This study aimed to explore the perspectives of WA LGs and public health organizations (PHOs) on current and potential policies restricting unhealthy outdoor food advertising on LG owned infrastructure to (1) identify barriers and enablers to the policy making process, (2) assess the current level of political willingness (i.e. political want, political can and political must) and (3) inform development of recommendations to support future policy actions. Methods: We undertook 27 individual or small-group interviews between June and October 2024 with WA stakeholders from LGs (n = 22) and PHOs (n = 10). Interviews were conducted online or face-to-face using semi-structured discussion guides. Six researchers designed the discussion guide, collected the data and conducted reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Four main themes were generated which related to barriers: (1) a new area of public health for LGs, (2) uncertainty about the public health policy making process, (3) working with stakeholders is a balancing act, and enablers: (4) local governments can see the gaps and know what needs to be done. Analysis of political willingness found that many LGs lacked resources or perceived the policy to lack relevance in their community (political want). Most LGs and PHOs lacked confidence in their skills and knowledge to undertake the work and described a gap in leadership from state governments (political can). Findings indicate that citizen mobilization in support of such policies will be key to future success (political must). Conclusions: This new area of public health has brought challenges for WA LGs who lack prior experience. The four main themes we generated from the interviews showed that the key elements of political willingness, i.e. political want, political can and political must, are lacking overall. Recommendations to overcome the current state of "political won't" include building government understanding and support, developing skills and confidence, resourcing the work required and increasing community pressure to act. (© 2026. The Author(s).) |
| Competing Interests: | Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Ethics approval to conduct this study was granted by the Edith Cowan University Human Research Ethics Committee (REMS no: 2024-05303). All procedures were performed in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines and have been approved by the appropriate institutional committee(s). Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. |
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| Grant Information: | Vice Chancellor's Professorial Fellowship Edith Cowan University; People Fellowship Stan Perron Charitable Foundation; G-202402-86292 Healthway (WA Health Promotion Foundation) |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Food advertising; Local government; Marketing; Policy; Qualitative; Western Australia |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260421 Date Completed: 20260610 Latest Revision: 20260726 |
| Update Code: | 20260726 |
| PubMed Central ID: | PMC13227689 |
| DOI: | 10.1186/s12961-026-01483-4 |
| PMID: | 42010573 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
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