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Overview
Overview
INFORMAS (International Network for Food and Obesity/NCD Research, Monitoring and Action Support) was established in 2012 to ‘Benchmark Food Environments’ by providing protocols and support for researchers to use common measuring tools.
Two process modules (government policies, private sector actions), 7 impact modules (food composition, labelling, prices, promotion, provision, retail, trade) and one outcome module (population diets) were published in 2013.
By 2020, INFORMAS had grown to include >85 institutions in 58 countries (more than half LMICs), >115 peer-reviewed papers, >45 post-grad theses, >50 early/mid-career researchers, and success in informing advocacy and policy development.
INFORMAS has been highly successful in stimulating substantial food environments research, monitoring, policy actions, and capacity building. Strong academic support networks have facilitated extensive collaborations internationally and regionally.
Key actors
Key actors
>85 academic institutions
Strong regional groups: Latin America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia/NZ/Canada
Distributed module leadership groups (deliberately inclusive of LMIC and early career researchers)
Strong networking activities: regional networking meetings, conference symposia and satellites, e-seminars, e-conferences, project support
Links to national policymakers on policy and food environment evidence
Links to international organisations eg WHO
Links to NGOs (eg World Obesity Federation, Global Health Advocacy Incubator)
Alignment with the EAT-Lancet Commission
Alignment with the EAT-Lancet Commission
INFORMAS benchmarks national food environments related to obesity and NCDs. This has been a very successful, enduring, and expanding network which is now engaging with other dimensions of food environments – undernutrition, environmental sustainability, local environments, and policy advocacy.
INFORMAS 2.0 project built sustainability indicators to be included in monitoring food policies and environments.
INFORMAS lead, Prof Boyd Swinburn, co-chaired the Lancet Commission on the Global Syndemic of Obesity, Undernutrition and Climate change (2019). In common with the EAT-Lancet Commission, it recognises the need for transformation towards healthy, equitable, sustainable, and prosperous food systems.
Lessons Learned
Lessons Learned
INFORMAS is a collaborative platform which gives researchers and students easy access to protocols, networks, and support for research.
This has been achieved with minimal funding for a central support capacity. For the platform to achieve its potential, it needs to increase its ‘backbone’ features (website, training resources, data repository, capacity building, dissemination).
INFORMAS needs to more strongly engage with undernutrition, sustainability, and policymaking.
Next steps
Next steps
INFORMAS DECADE2 is a strategic plan to take the platform forward. This will be finalised in a meeting in Cuernavaca, Mexico in Nov 2025.
Research: Update and enhance protocols to include new methods and undernutrition and sustainability indicators.
Alliances: Expand alliances to foster global collaborations across health, equity, and environmental science disciplines
Capacity building: Build the capacity of academia and civil society to create evidence and translate food systems evidence into policy and program action, prioritizing capacity in LMICs
For more information contact: Boyd Swinburn at Boyd.Swinburn@auckland.ac.nz
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