Strategies to influence nutrition behaviour

An attempt is made in this paper to consider first the current nutritional scene with its problems, and then to suggest strategies for improvement. As the quality of people's diets everywhere is influenced by many different factors, not least by availability of food, ability to pay for it, and some (however basic) understanding of its effects upon health, a strong plea is made for consideration to be given to those most in need of nutritional help–the least advantaged and least motivated groups in the developed countries, as well as the poor in the Third World. Some strategies aimed at improving nutrition behaviour are outlined.
Having given some considerable thought to the exact meaning of the title, I decided it is best understood as 'ways and means of bringing about beneficial changes in food habits from the health point of view'. The more I considered what such changes might entail, the less appropriate it seemed to think merely in terms of one's own immediate area, or even of the developed parts of the world. Thus, although many of the examples offered are taken either from my native Scotland or from the UK as a whole, I have attempted to aim for a wider view.