Objective: To evaluate the extent of implementation of public policies aimed at creating healthy eating environments in Senegal compared to international best practice and identity priority actions to address the double burden of malnutrition.
Design: The Healthy Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI) was used by a local expert panel to assess the level of implementation of 43 good practice policy and infrastructure support indicators against international best practices using a Likert scale and identify priority actions to address the double burden of malnutrition in Senegal.
Setting: Senegal, West Africa.
Participants: A national group of independent experts from academia, civil society, non-governmental organizations and United Nations bodies (n =15) and a group of government experts from various ministries (n =16) participated in the study.
Results: Implementation of most indicators aimed at creating healthy eating environments were rated as "low" compared to best practice (31 on 43, or 72%). The Gwet AC2 inter-rater reliability was good at 0.75 (CI 0.70 - 0.80). In a prioritization workshop, experts identified forty-five actions, prioritizing ten as relatively most feasible and important and relatively most effective to reduce the double burden of malnutrition in Senegal (example: Develop and implement regional school menus based on local products (expand to 14 regions) and measure the extent of the promotion of unhealthy foods to children).
Conclusions: Significant efforts remain to be made by Senegal to improve food environments. This project allowed to establish an agenda of priority actions for the government to transform food environments in Senegal to tackle the double burden of malnutrition.
Keywords: Evaluation; Government Actions; Healthy Food Environments; Policy Index; Public Policy.