ArticleInternational journal of health policy and management2022
Policy Instruments for Health Promotion: A Comparison of WHO Policy Guidance for Tobacco, Alcohol, Nutrition and Physical Activity.
Article in International journal of health policy and management, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- The impact of public policy on socioeconomic equity in physical activity: a systematic review.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2026Pooled it
- Designing a new physical activity calorie equivalent food label and comparing its effect on caloric choices to that of the traffic light label among mothers: a mixed-method study.Frontiers in public health · 2023Trial
- Trends and Contextual Factors Related to Obesity-Related Legislation in the Republic of Korea (2006-2024).Nutrients · 2026Article
- Developing evidence-based cancer prevention recommendations: Methodology of the World Code Against Cancer Framework to create region-specific codes.International journal of cancer · 2026Review
- The implementation of physical activity policies in the Netherlands: a study applying the Physical Activity Environment Policy Index (PA-EPI).Health research policy and systems · 2025Article
- Health sector advocacy for repurposing agricultural investments affecting fruits, vegetables and legumes.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2025Article
- Physical activity-the past, present and potential future: a state-of-the-art review.Health promotion international · 2025Review
- The impact of the world's first regulatory, multi-setting intervention on sedentary behaviour among children and adolescents (ENERGISE): a natural experiment evaluation.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2024Article
- Consensus on a social return on investment model of physical activity and sport: a Delphi study protocol.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2024Article
- Assessing the implementation of physical activity-promoting public policies in the Republic of Ireland: a study using the Physical Activity Environment Policy Index (PA-EPI).Health research policy and systems · 2023Article
- Skin Cancer Prevention across the G7, Australia and New Zealand: A Review of Legislation and Guidelines.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2023Review
- Power and Other Commercial Determinants of Health: An Empirical Study of the Australian Food, Alcohol, and Gambling Industries.International journal of health policy and management · 2023Article
- Health policy under the microscope: a micro policy design perspective.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Cross-country collaboration for physical activity promotion: experiences from the European Union Physical Activity Focal Points Network.European journal of public health · 2022Article
- Prevalence and Correlates of Intimate Partner Violence against Women in Liberia: Findings from 2019-2020 Demographic and Health Survey.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPolicy is an important element of influencing individual health-related behaviours associated to major risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as smoking, alcohol consumption, unhealthy eating and physical inactivity. However, our understanding of the specific measures recommended in NCD prevention policy-making remains limited. This study analysed recent World Health Organization (WHO) documents to identify common policy instruments suggested for national NCD prevention policy and to assess similarities and differences between policies targeting different health-related behaviours.
methodsEvert Vedung's typology of policy instruments, which differentiates between regulatory, economic/ fiscal and soft instruments, served as a basis for this analysis. A systematic search on WHO websites was conducted to identify documents relating to tobacco, alcohol, nutrition and physical activity. The staff of the respective units at the WHO Regional Office for Europe conducted an expert validation of these documents. The resulting documents were systematically searched for policy instruments. A word frequency analysis was conducted to estimate the use of individual instruments in the different policy fields, followed by an additional in-depth coding and content analysis by two independent reviewers.
resultsAcross all health-related behaviours, the following policy instruments were suggested most frequently in WHO guidance documents: laws, regulations, standards, taxes, prices, campaigns, recommendations, partnerships and coordination. The analysis showed that regulatory and economic/fiscal policy instruments are mainly applied in tobacco and alcohol policy, while soft instruments dominate in the fields of nutrition and especially physical activity.
conclusionThe study confirms perceived differences regarding recommended policy instruments in the different policy fields and supports arguments that "harder" instruments still appear to be underutilized in nutrition and physical activity. However, more comprehensive research is needed, especially with respect to actual instrument use and effectiveness in national-level NCD prevention policy.
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Registered trials
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.