Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29190662›Full record

ArticlePloS one2017

Using systems science to understand the determinants of inequities in healthy eating.

Sharon Friel, Melanie Pescud, Eleanor Malbon, Amanda Lee, Robert Carter, Joanne Greenfield, Megan Cobcroft, Jane Potter, Lucie Rychetnik, Beth Meertens

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 70 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
70citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

70 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. A System Dynamics Simulation Applied to Healthcare: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020
    Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Trial
  7. How do supermarkets shape the experience of vulnerable people in Australia's food system? A scoping review.Nutrition & dietetics : the journal of the Dietitians Association of Australia · 2026
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Goals in Nutrition Science 2025-2030.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026
    Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Causal Loop Diagrams of Food Systems, Diet, and Obesity: A Scoping Review of Methods, Contextual Factors, and Outcomes.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025
    Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Systems approaches in public health: beyond mapping the causes.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025
    Review
  16. Simulated retail food environments: A literature review of systems science approaches to advance equity in access to healthy diets.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025
    Review
  17. Using a systems thinking approach to map the global rise of ultra-processed foods in population diets.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025
    Review
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

10 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Sharon FrielSchool of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet), Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8345-5435
Melanie PescudSchool of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet), Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
Eleanor MalbonSchool of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet), Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
Amanda LeeSax Institute, Sydney, Australia.
Robert CarterDeakin University, Melbourne, Australia.
Joanne GreenfieldACT Health, Canberra, Australia.
Megan CobcroftNSW Health, Sydney, Australia.
Jane PotterNational Heart Foundation, Melbourne, Australia.
Lucie RychetnikSax Institute, Sydney, Australia.
Beth MeertensNational Heart Foundation, Melbourne, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionSystems thinking has emerged in recent years as a promising approach to understanding and acting on the prevention and amelioration of non-communicable disease. However, the evidence on inequities in non-communicable diseases and their risks factors, particularly diet, has not been examined from a systems perspective. We report on an approach to developing a system oriented policy actor perspective on the multiple causes of inequities in healthy eating.

methodsCollaborative conceptual modelling workshops were held in 2015 with an expert group of representatives from government, non-government health organisations and academia in Australia. The expert group built a systems model using a system dynamics theoretical perspective. The model developed from individual mind maps to pair blended maps, before being finalised as a causal loop diagram.

resultsThe work of the expert stakeholders generated a comprehensive causal loop diagram of the determinants of inequity in healthy eating (the HE2 Diagram). This complex dynamic system has seven sub-systems: (1) food supply and environment; (2) transport; (3) housing and the built environment; (4) employment; (5) social protection; (6) health literacy; and (7) food preferences. DISCUSSION: The HE2 causal loop diagram illustrates the complexity of determinants of inequities in healthy eating. This approach, both the process of construction and the final visualisation, can provide the basis for planning the prevention and amelioration of inequities in healthy eating that engages with multiple levels of causes and existing policies and programs.

Indexed as

Diet, HealthySocial JusticeHumans

Identifiers

PMID29190662
PMCPMC5708780

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.