ANH Science-Policy Fellowship

Thematic Area: Human Resource Development

Start Date: July 1, 2025

This project aims to evaluate and enhance the effectiveness of public health communication on food marketing regulations, focusing on Sri Lanka’s Traffic Light Labeling (TLL) system in urban underserved settlements (UUS) of Colombo. Despite being implemented in 2016, public understanding of TLL-especially among low-income households-remains limited. The study will assess existing media strategies and pilot communication interventions grounded in behavioural science to raise awareness and promote healthier food choices.

By targeting key household agents of change-particularly mothers and children-and leveraging high-engagement media channels such as state media and schools, the research will identify scalable, culturally appropriate strategies to improve regulatory impact. The project will also engage policymakers and media stakeholders to ensure policy integration, equitable outreach, and sustained behaviour change toward healthier diets through effective health policy communication.

Objectives of the study include:

Research Team
ANH Science-Policy Fellowship
Dr Pulasthi Amarasinghe
Research Fellow
BSc (Maryland), MSc (Iowa), PhD (UNC-Chapel Hill)
ANH Science-Policy Fellowship
Usha Perera
Research Officer
PhD candidate on study leave (Lancaster University), BA (Colombo), MSc (Leeds)
ANH Science-Policy Fellowship
Funding: ANH Academy
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