Public settings, such as schools, childcare centres, nursing homes and hospitals and all other canteens of public institutions, can play a key role in ensuring people are provided with healthy food.

That’s according to a new action framework which says such effort can help prevent the 8 million annual deaths currently caused by unhealthy diets.

The new WHO Action framework for developing and implementing public food procurement and service policies for a healthy diet aims to increase the availability of healthy food through setting nutrition criteria for food served and sold in public settings. 

Usman Umar reports.