IPS Researchers Weigh in at INFORMAS eSymposium 2021

27 October 2021

IPS researchers Sunimalee Madurawala and Ashani Abayasekara made presentations at the International Network for Food and Obesity/Non-communicable Diseases Research, Monitoring and Action Support (INFROMAS) eSymposium 2021 (Asia and the Pacific). The INFORMAS eSymposium series aims to foster space for knowledge exchange in moving towards healthier and more sustainable food environments.

Sunimalee’s presentation was on ‘Political Economy of Fiscal Policies and Regulations to Promote Healthy Diets in Sri Lanka’ at the session on ‘Public Sector, Private Sector, Family Food Environments, and Population Diets’. She emphasised the need to take a more holistic and cohesive approach in developing policies that aim to address the NCD challenge and promote healthy dietary patterns in Sri Lanka.

Ashani presented on ‘Developing a Framework to Assess Retail Food Environments in Sri Lanka’s Urban Underserved Settlements’ at the session on ‘Food Composition, Food Labelling and Food Retail’. She discussed the steps involved and challenges faced in developing a novel retail food environment assessment tool suited to the Sri Lankan context, including absence of well-defined food item and outlet categorisations and a complex and dynamic food environment. She also highlighted the need to assess food environments to propose regulatory measures that would contribute to creating healthier food environments in the country.

Both presentations were based on emerging findings from the study ‘Strengthening Fiscal Policies and Regulations to Promote Healthy Diets in Sri Lanka’ funded by the IDRC.

Download Sunimalee’s Presentation HERE.

Download Ashani’s Presentation HERE.