Preventing diet-related non-communicable diseases : a rights-based approach to improving health outcomes through food and nutrition security

Abstract

In South Africa, while the state has acknowledged the link between the food environment and poor health outcomes, it has done little to regulate and address the underlying determinants, and food and nutrition insecurity remains rife. Moreover, effectively preventing diet-related non-communicable diseases requires states to actively reduce the availability of unhealthy foods and enforce measures to improve access to healthy foods. This calls for several integrated legal, policy and regulatory interventions and investment across the health, food and agricultural systems alike. Therefore, a multisectoral approach is needed to ensure coordinated implementation and monitoring. For these reasons, this article provides an overview of the normative framework guiding state interventions on food and nutrition. It uses a rights-based approach, specifically the rights to health and food, to analyse the food and nutrition policy framework, looking at current priorities, policy coherence and implementation. It explores challenges and opportunities within these frameworks to strengthen diet-related non-communicable disease prevention efforts, aimed at improving health outcomes through food and nutrition security in South Africa.