FOODPATH is an EU funded project under the umbrella of the Partnership Fostering a European Research Area for Health (ERA4Health). FOODPATH will investigate the factors influencing dietary behaviours among disadvantaged communities and assess how food policy, social policy, and commercial interests impact these inequalities.  This initiative will bring together experts from various fields to develop and implement solutions aimed at reducing food-related inequalities.

Why are we doing this research?

Obesity and diet-related NCDs are responsible for as much as 80% of the disease burden in high-income countries in Europe and elsewhere. For a long time, these conditions were referred to as ‘lifestyle diseases’, caused by unhealthy food ‘choices’ people make in their daily lives. Because of this view, governments have tended to favour ‘agentic’ interventions that only work if individuals themselves can change their behaviour. But this completely ignores the unchosen societal, commercial and political circumstances that affect our behaviour. These circumstances vary widely depending on socioeconomic status, with more affluent groups generally having more opportunities to adopt healthier behaviour. As a result, ‘agentic’ policies make dietary inequalities even worse. Those who have the opportunities and resources to change their behaviour may see health benefits, but those who don’t are left behind. Thus, if public health interventions are to address inequality, they must be ‘structural’. They must improve the options available to individuals rather than just educating individuals to change. In short, universal structural changes to the food environment (e.g., food-related taxes, a ban on unhealthy food marketing) are considered more likely to reduce health inequalities at population level than individual level interventions (e.g., dietary counselling).  

There are four work packages:

• WP1: Identify systemic drivers of food-related inequalities from a citizens’ perspective.
• WP2: Explore how commercial interests influence food-related inequalities and find systemic commercial leverage points for change. 
• WP3: Uncover policy gaps and priority actions needed to improve food environments and to reduce inequalities in selected European cities.
• WP4: Investigate European consumers’ preferences and how they would respond to different fiscal interventions such as taxes on unhealthy food products.

Our Funders

• ERA4 Health
• Health Research Board (HRB), Ireland
• ZonMw, Netherlands
• The Research Foundation Flanders FWO, Belgium
• Ministry of University and Research (MUR), Italy
• The Scientiric and technological research council of Türkiye (TUBITAK), Turkey