Pilot test of the NOURISHING policy index—Assessing governmental nutrition policies in five European countries

Abstract

The NOURISHING database is a repository of more than 1000 verified nutrition anddiet-related governmental policy actions currently in effect globally. The database isa unique and rich data source on governmental policy actions with a potential fordeveloping tools that capture the overall policy efforts in a country, identify policygaps, and enable cross-national comparisons. Policy actions from a sample of fiveEuropean countries have been benchmarked against aspirational standards using theNOURISHING benchmarking tool. This paper presents the results of the pilot testingfrom the benchmarking process for the construction of the NOURISHING policyindex. The development of the index was guided by existing tools for developingcomposite indicators. The findings from the pilot test indicate that the NOURISHINGpolicy index can identify both policy gaps and cross-national policy differences. Theseresults demonstrate that the policy index merits testing on a larger sample to identifypotential refinements.

Pilot test of the NOURISHING policy index—Assessing governmental nutrition policies in five European countries