What's law got to do with it? Part 2: Legal strategies for healthier nutrition and obesity prevention

Abstract

This article is the second in a two-part review of law's possible role in a regulatory approach to healthier nutrition and obesity prevention in Australia. As discussed in Part 1, law can intervene in support of obesity prevention at a variety of levels: by engaging with the health care system, by targeting individual behaviours, and by seeking to influence the broader, socio-economic and environmental factors that influence patterns of behaviour across the population. Part 1 argued that the most important opportunities for law lie in seeking to enhance the effectiveness of a population health approach. Part 2 of this article aims to provide a systematic review of the legal strategies that are most likely to emerge, or are worth considering, as part of a suite of policies designed to prevent population weight gain and, more generally, healthier nutrition. While the impact of any one intervention may be modest, their cumulative impact could be significant and could also create the conditions for more effective public education campaigns. This article addresses the key contenders, with particular reference to Australia and the United States.