Presented by Centre for Food Policy staff, this event of the School of Health and Psychological Sciences, City, University of London Research Centre Seminar Series will include two presentations on current research projects:
‘Understanding the use of media analysis in food tax debates, a scoping review’
by Dr Anette Bonifant-Cisneros and Rachel Headings.
Abstract
To better understand food tax debates and the use of media analysis in public health research, we conducted a scoping review following Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) five-stage approach for conducting scoping reviews.
Articles were published between 2013 and 2023, with 2021 having the highest concentration of studies.
Most articles explored arguments for and against policy implementation with the aim of explaining how arguments were framed in the media by different stakeholders and how these arguments changed over time.
Results from the reviewed studies demonstrate that arguments are consistent for both pro- and anti-tax arguments, which supports the idea of a media ‘playbook’ for tax framing tax debates.
To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate media analysis across a diverse range of food products. The study is limited to peer-reviewed articles written in English, which reduced the number of relevant results.
Funding: This scoping study is part of the HEALTHEI project funded by NIHR, grant number 133927.
‘Why are uptake rates of the UK Healthy Start Scheme still low? A rapid qualitative analysis’
by Millie Barrett and Dr Christina Vogel.
Abstract
Healthy Start is a fantastic and much-loved scheme that provides benefits not only to children’s development but also to families’ states of well-being.
In the current cost of living crisis it is needed now more than ever before and. has a large groundswell of support nationally and locally across all stakeholder groups.
Increasing the uptake of Healthy Start, however, is not only about promotion, but reframing the wording surrounding the scheme and offering much needed hand‐holding.
This additional support is necessary to overcome language difficulties, lack of digital skills and access, and other factors including shame, stigma and fear.
National and local leadership is being called for to drive and resource action, and to coordinate targeted activities between partners in the private, public, and voluntary sectors.
Funding: This project is funded by the NIHR Policy Research Programme (PRP), project number: NIHR203438.
These research projects remain unpublished and as such, are not for broader circulation. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.
About the speakers
Millie Barrett, MSc: Project Manager and Researcher at the Centre for Food Policy, City University of London.
She has a background in public health research focusing on dietary and health inequalities, the food environment, and interventions to support adolescent behaviour change.
During the Covid-19 pandemic Millie worked with a team of qualitative researchers to run the TeC-19 study focusing on adolescent wellbeing and resilience during Covid lockdowns.
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