The modern food environment is characterised by nutrient-poor, energy-dense food and beverages, and has been implicated in poorer health outcomes. The food environment refers to the availability, nutritional quality, price, convenience and promotion of foods in a given locality. It can either support or create a barrier to healthy eating, regardless of individual factors such as nutrition knowledge. Interventions aimed at improving the food environment are therefore necessary to improve the diet and health of the population and the university setting is one possible target.   

The transition to university is a critical time period involving changes to eating behaviours and is often associated with weight gain and poorer food choices. Although, there are currently no policies governing the quality and promotion of food and drinks in Australian universities, a collaboration of Universities are developing a framework for creating healthy, sustainable campus food environments. The aim of this project is to improve the UQ campus food environment, this will include analysis of the current food environment, engage with key stakeholders, and eventually implementation of a framework to a healthy sustainable UQ campus.  

Project members

UQ School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences researchers involved in this project: