Fighting to eat healthfully: measurements of the military food environment

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on a quantitative study of the food environment designed to measure aspects of support for healthy eating. Design/methodology/approach – An ecological view of eating behaviour was taken by examining the food environment that surrounded a military population of interest. Food outlets (n = 34) were assessed using the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey in store (NEMS-S), Nutrition Environment Measures Study in restaurants (NEMS-R) and military Nutrition Environment Assessment Tool (mNEAT) instruments to determine how well food outlets supported healthy eating. Findings – Despite better-than-average provision of healthy options on-base, the total environment surrounding the military base barely supports healthy eating. Average support to healthy eating was 45 per cent (NEMS) or 27 per cent (mNEAT) of support that could be measured. Individuals accessing this food environment would find few healthy alternatives, little information directing them to healthy choices and pricing and promotion that drives unhealthy eating behaviours. Research limitations/implications – This study focused on one food environment; replication is recommended to establish foundation data for benchmarking outlets, and further develop these measures for Australian settings. Future studies may assess the media environment to further extend the ecological model used. Practical implications – A method to measure the food environment is demonstrated which provides formative research insights for use when planning social marketing interventions. Consideration of these influences together with intra- and inter-personal influences offer the potential to better design social marketing healthy eating interventions, by addressing multiple levels within an ecological framework. Originality/value – This paper answers calls for social marketers to consider the influence of the surrounding environment, using methods not previously used in Australian settings.