Databases FAQs and methodology

The NOURISHING and MOVING databases collect policy actions from around the world which are implemented on a national level, and which are currently in effect.

NOURISHING is focused on policy actions that promote healthy diets.

MOVING is focused on policy actions that promote physical activity.

All policy actions in the databases have been verified by an in-country government expert. In select cases, local policies have also been included as exemplars of policy action at subnational (regional, municipal or local) level, for example:

NOURISHING: New York City’s Food Standards, which set nutritional standards for all food purchased or served by city agencies.

To source the policy actions, we use a specific search criteria and verification process.

In 2022–23 we conducted an in-depth, systematic search of 30 European countries (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK including England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) known as the Comprehensive European Scan for both the NOURISHING and MOVING databases as part of the CO-CREATE project (given its European focus).

Policy action is a broad term, which can be defined in many different ways. For the purpose of these databases, we define it as any form of government action including, but not restricted to, legislation, regulation, decrees, standards, policies, programmes, guidelines, fiscal measures and government-supported voluntary programmes, action and campaigns. All policy actions are part of public policy, but not all policies are policy actions. For the purposes of the databases, plans and strategies are excluded.

The NOURISHING database provides an overview of policy actions from around the world that promote healthy diets and reduce obesity, structured around the NOURISHING policy framework.

It includes information on food labelling, sugar-sweetened beverage taxation, marketing restrictions of products high in sugar, salt and/or fat, and much more. Each letter in the word NOURISHING represents 1 of 10 areas where governments need to take action.

The MOVING database provides an overview of policy actions from around the world targeted at getting people, particularly youth and adolescents, more active. It is structured around the MOVING policy framework, which was also developed as part of the CO-CREATE project.

It includes information on physical activity programmes and guidelines, urban planning and transport design, and mass communication campaigns.

The NOURISHING and MOVING databases are structured around the NOURISHING and MOVING policy frameworks, which organise the databases into different policy domains, policy areas and sub-policy areas.

We have a 2-stage process for populating and updating the NOURISHING and MOVING policy databases as outlined in detail in our Methods Document.

Stage 1

The first stage is to source and review policy actions that are intended to promote healthy diets and reduce obesity for NOURISHING, and physical activity for MOVING, through a structured policy scan known as the Global Scan.

The policy scan is conducted on a rolling basis and policy actions are sourced and monitored from newsletters, listservs and research into key topics. We also source any published evaluations of the policy’s impact.

In 2022–23, the Global Scan was supplemented with the comprehensive search of national level diet-nutrition and physical activity policy actions for 30 European countries, known as the Comprehensive European Scan.

The in-depth scan of European countries was designed to give a more detailed overview of the policy environment in Europe, given the geographical focus of the CO-CREATE project.

The Comprehensive European Scan of nutrition and physical activity policy actions in the 30 European countries took a systematic approach with specific search terms, set out in the Technical Annex of the Methods Document.

Stage 2

All identified policy actions must be verified with in-country or regional experts to ensure the policy has been implemented and meets the criteria of a policy action.

All policies in the database must be national in scope, currently implemented, and meet the definition of “policy action”.

• Read the Methods Summary
• Read the Methods Document
• Read the Technical Annex

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK (including England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales).

The countries were selected using the following criteria:

• Availability of data on obesity levels for young people aged 15 from HBSC Survey 2013/14. This age has been selected due to its relevance to the overall project.
• 1 of 5 CO-CREATE project countries (Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, UK)

And/or:

• Countries within the EU (given the relevance of the project and being funded by the EU).

It is not enough for legislation or regulations simply to exist. To have any impact, policies need to be in effect. We have a verification process (as outlined in our Methods Document) to ensure that the policies included in NOURISHING and MOVING have been passed into law or are in effect.

The MOVING database contains more than 750 implemented government physical activity policies globally. The NOURISHING database contains more than 1,200 implemented government policy actions in 134 countries.

The databases only list countries for which we have policies. If a country you are interested in is not in the drop-down menu, it means that we are not aware of an existing policy to promote healthy diets or physical activity in this country. Should you know of a policy in this country, please email policy@wcrf.org.

We update the policy databases continually. Our monthly newsletter details policies recently added to the databases. If you would like to be added to our mailing list, sign up here.

Links to web pages change and break over time. We therefore only include links to evaluations and health campaigns that have a website, to keep the number of web links to regularly check manageable. We include the specific policy name so that our users can source the original documentation through a search engine.

To include an evaluation of a policy in the database, it must fulfil an inclusion criteria. It must be:

• A process or impact evaluation of a policy that is contained in the NOURISHING or MOVING databases;
• published in English;
• available online (full text or abstract), and both the reference and link to the evaluation are included in the relevant database;
• conducted by universities/research institutions, civil society organisations or governments; and
• of sufficiently high quality (eg using validated questionnaires, sufficient number of respondents, etc).

For more information on how we search for evaluations please refer to the Technical Annex of the Methods Document.

If we become aware of a government changing or updating a policy listed in our database, we search for more information on the policy change and verify our updated summary with a regional or in-country expert. Our Methods Document explains in detail how we update and populate the databases.

Policy actions that have expired, been withdrawn or are no longer enforced are removed from the databases unless they are accompanied by a policy evaluation (for example, if it has been evaluated to show a public health impact – benefit or harm – or evaluated to show no effect).

If the policy action has expired but is accompanied by an evaluation, the policy description includes an end date for the policy action and a brief description of the reasons for expiry or ending (eg a change of government, change of evidence). Expired policy actions are also clearly identified in the NOURISHING or MOVING databases with “Expired policy” in bold type below the policy description text to differentiate them from ongoing policies.

Public awareness campaigns, either run by or endorsed by governments (included in “I – Inform people about food and nutrition through public awareness” in NOURISHING and “N – Normalise and increase physical activity through public communication” in MOVING) may also remain in the databases even if they are no longer running as they often last for only a short time. The summary of the campaign includes the start and end date. To be included, a campaign must have taken place in the past 5 years and have had national scope; after this time, it is retained only if it has been evaluated.

We maintain a list of removed policies, including the date and reason for removal.

The NOURISHING and MOVING policy tools align with the efforts of many other organisations to address overweight, obesity and non-communicable diseases.

Our NOURISHING and MOVING frameworks are consistent with and supportive of the policy options included in the WHO’s Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (2013–2020).

The MOVING framework has a strong alignment with the WHO’s Global Action Plan on Physical Activity 2018–2030 (GAPPA), which sets out 4 strategic objectives achievable through 20 policy actions that are universally applicable to all countries, recognising that each country is at a different starting point in their efforts to reduce levels of physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour. The MOVING framework’s 6 policy areas align with the 4 policy domains in the GAPPA: Active societies, Active environments, Active people and Active systems.

Our NOURISHING framework is consistent with and supports the work of INFORMAS (International Network for Food and Obesity/NCDs Research, Monitoring and Action Support). This global network aims to monitor, benchmark and support actions to create healthy food environments, including through actions governing labelling, provision of food in specific settings, prices, advertising and promotion, composition across the food supply, retail provision, and trade between countries. It has developed a Government Healthy Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI) to assess the extent of government policy implementation against international best practice.

We would love to hear from you if you have information and knowledge about a relevant implemented government policy not captured in our databases. Please contact policy@wcrf.org.

Please contact policy@wcrf.org. You can also sign up to our monthly newsletter here.

Please contact policy@wcrf.org for permission to use or replicate any part of the NOURISHING and MOVING frameworks and/or databases. Please do not attempt to create your own version. Only with our express permission may you replicate NOURISHING and MOVING, acknowledging World Cancer Research Fund International as the originator.

International

• WHO Global Database on the Implementation of Nutrition Action
• WHO Noncommunicable Disease Document Repository
• FAO database on food based dietary guidelines
• The Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity – Food Marketing
• Marketing of breast-milk substitutes: National implementation of the international code. Status Report 2016 (joint report by WHO, UNICEF and IBFAN published in 2016 providing information on the implementation status of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and subsequent relevant WHO resolutions in and by countries)

Europe

• WHO Europe Database on Nutrition, Obesity and Physical Activity

US

• The Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity – Legislation Database
• National Association of State Boards of Education – State School Health Policy Database
• National Cancer Institute – Classification of Laws Associated with School Students
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation – State Laws for School Snack Foods and Beverages
• Healthy Food Access Portal
• Healthy Food Policy Project

Canada

• Prevention Policies Directory

World Cancer Research Fund International takes no responsibility for the content of these websites.