Public policies addressing unhealthy diets in the South-East Asia region: identifying and countering the arguments that undermine policy implementation.

ABSTRACT: In South-East Asia, government implementation of policies recommended for addressing unhealthy diets has generally been slow and fragmented, largely due to food industry opposition and a lack of effective cross-sectoral policy action. To help government policy-makers and other interest-holders address these issues, this study aimed to identify key arguments that undermine implementation of policies for addressing unhealthy diets in the region, and to propose a set of counter-strategies. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 interest-holders based in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, and performed a scoping review of diverse literature. Data analysis was guided by the 'Policy Dystopia Model', initially used to study the corporate political activity of the tobacco industry

SUBMITTER: Wood B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12906771 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature