142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

311707
Voluntary strategies to promote healthier eating: The legal landscape for public health practitioners

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 : 11:15 AM - 11:30 AM

Lauren Dunning, JD, MPH , Division of Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA
Christine Montes, MPH , Division of Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA
Michael Leighs, MPP , Division of Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA
Linda Aragon, MPH , Tobacco Control & Prevention Program, County of Los Angeles, Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA
Tony Kuo, MD, MSHS , Division of Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA
Within public health, many efforts are underway to use law and policy as tools for creating environments that promote healthier eating and active living. When designing interventions to address these issues, governments have a range of strategies available, from legislative to voluntary and incentive-based. Voluntary strategies can be particularly useful, but can be overlooked during the process of developing policy options. They have potential as valuable public health policy tools, especially in areas lacking clear best practices or where a complementary program would be of benefit to communities. Engagement of the retail food sector to offer healthier options is one area where voluntary strategies are currently being implemented and tested in their natural environments. In creating such programs, it is critical to identify and address potential legal concerns. For example, the development of clear standards that can be fairly applied to all applicants of a voluntary program is important for government-led efforts. This presentation will discuss the experiences of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health in developing and launching a voluntary partnership with local restaurants to promote healthier choices for consumers. Restaurants joining the partnership choose to operate in compliance with standards for healthier dining options developed and monitored by the health department. Examples of potential legal issues and the manner in which the program addressed them will be discussed in this presentation.

Learning Areas:

Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Program planning
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines

Learning Objectives:
Describe policy options to promote healthier eating that are voluntary or incentive-based. Identify potential legal concerns to consider when designing voluntary programs.

Keyword(s): Law, Health Promotion and Education

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the food industry liaison for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Division of Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention. Within the Division, I led the development and launch of the Choose Health LA Restaurants program, a voluntary initiative to engage restaurants in offering healthier options. I am a policy lawyer, and I identified and addressed legal issues during the design of this program.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.