Aims:
- To develop a practical and acceptable resource package for promoting nutrition in remote Indigenous community stores using shelf labels.
Summary:
The Nutrition Promotion and Education in Remote Stores Project was created in response to the limited availability of resources for developing, implementing, maintaining and evaluating shelf label projects.
We worked directly with four communities across Arnhem Land, Cape York, Central Australia and The Torres Strait to develop and implement shelf label projects and other activities for their stores.
This pilot project culminated with the development of a resource package for using shelf labels to promote nutrition in remote Indigenous community stores. The target audience for the package is remote nutritionists, health promotion staff or other health professionals or health workers, store staff or community workers with the support of someone with nutrition expertise.
Implications for policy and practice:
It is hoped that people working in remote community nutrition and food supply will access and use this resource package. This will further add to the evidence base for shelf label programs in remote Indigenous community stores.
Our research has found:
The following factors help to support effective development and implementation of a shelf label program:
- a community store that has good systems in place for pricing and stock control
- adequate staffing levels and staff who are interested in working on a nutrition program
- supportive store manager/s
- community support
- interested and supportive stakeholders.
Shelf label projects must engage with and involve local people to ensure that they are appropriate for the local context and to increase effectiveness and acceptability.
Shelf labels may be more likely to affect sales within a product group where there are healthier and less healthy options, such as breakfast cereals. This needs further investigation.
Program messages should be clear and easy to understand and should be reinforced by other promotional activities in the community, including the school and health centre (these could be posters, activities, radio and a launch etc.)
Practical training that explains the shelf labels and involves store staff in the project is needed. A training guide has been included in the resource package.
Chief investigator:
Project manager:
- Frances Knight
Contact information:
Project dates:
The project ran from January 2011 to June 2012.
Funders:
- The Fred Hollows Foundation
Collaborators:
- Yalu’ Marnggithinyaraw Indigenous Corporation
- Outback Stores Pty Ltd
- Arnhem Land Progress Aboriginal Corporation (ALPA)
- Department of Health, Northern Territory Government
- Western Australian Country Health Service
- Queensland Health Tropical Regional Services
- Queensland Government Department of Communities
- Islanders Board of Industry and Services
-
Jimmy Little Foundation.
-
New resource package to improve nutrition in remote communities
A new resource package will hope to address the poor state of diets in remote Indigenous populations.
-
New resource package to improve nutrition in remote communities
A new resource package focused on improving nutrition in remote stores in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities will help to address the poor state of diets in remote Indigenous populations.