Benchmarking Policy Goals and Actions for Healthy Food Environments in Benin to Prevent Malnutrition

Abstract

Background and aim: Lifestyle and dietary shifts contribute to widespread or specific micronutrient deficiencies, leading to health issues such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and certain cancers. These problems are linked to unhealthy food environments, yet little is known about Benin policy responses. This study aims to assess how different aspects of the food environment are addressed in Benin's policy documents and their alignment with international best practices. Methods: The study analyzed intentions and actions to ensure a healthy food environment in Benin using various policy documents, including laws, decrees, sectoral policies, strategic and operational plans, regulations, directives, action plans, and program/project documents. It followed the Food-EPI tool (Healthy Food Environment Policy Index) of the INFORMAS network (International Network for Food and Obesity/NCDs, Research, Monitoring and Action Support) focusing on the “Policy and Infrastructure Support” components, with steps like contextual analysis, document collection, and evidence extraction. Results: Of the 98 documents collected, 61 were analyzed and classified into frameworks: 54.09% in the policy framework, 29.50% in the strategic framework, and 16.39% in the operational framework. While nine food environment domains were addressed to some extent, disparities with international best practices were noted, especially in food composition, labeling, pricing, governance, and funding/resources. Evidence gaps were identified in retail food sales, food trade and investments, and health integration in policies. Conclusions: The study reveals diverse approaches and gaps in Benin policies for healthy food environments. Despite progress in some areas, like leadership and monitoring, others, including food composition and governance, need more attention.