Review of Nutrition Policy Options for Increasing Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in the Populations: Lesson Learned and Policy Implications

Abstract

Background: The development of policies for increasing fruit and vegetable consumption is highlighted as a priority in developing countries. This review study aimed to present the available policy options for increasing fruit and vegetable consumption in the populations. Methods: To collect relevant English publications, five electronic databases, including PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Embase, ProQuest, and Ovid from 2000 until 1st January 2021 were searched. The national or population based programs aimed to increase fruit and/or vegetable intake were included. Four types of policy options were recognized, including food promotion, school and workplace food environment regulations, agriculture, food production, supply and storage, and fiscal policies. Results: Increasing consumer’s knowledge has been more effective in increasing fruit and vegetable consumption among populations. However, most of the interventions in the workplace and school emphasize increasing knowledge and changing access to healthy food. Conclusion: In general, the evaluation of these policies has been done in the short term and has had a moderate impact on changing dietary behavior. Agricultural and food supply chain policies are currently less researched. Finally, recent evidence suggests that multi-component interventions are more effective than one-component interventions.