Abstract
In the light of the clear imperative of evidence-based policy development across the European Union, one of the challenges facing policy makers is establishing systems and processes for the collation and assessment of evidence. To date, there has been little clarity about what kind of evidence ends up in policy and in particular the way in which micronutrient recommendations link up to policy has largely been overlooked. The discrepancy between the recommendations of scientific advisory bodies for nutrition and the policy options utilizing their evidence indicates the lack of clarity about the process and that considerations other than scientific evidence influence the final outcome. The current article reports on the Health- Behaviour-Policy Framework which describes a range of considerations that play a role in the decision-making processes about a policy instrument (or a combination of) to adopt based on scientific advice about micronutrient requirements. These considerations include: the scientific advice linking micronutrient recommendations with health outcome; the evidence about human behaviour relevant to the health outcome; the policy and institutional context for the delivery of policy; the wider context. The framework is epistemological as it aims to identify the domains of information from which to draw in order to create a link between a desired health outcome and a policy. It is also a nested framework, as each layer touches upon the central issue under consideration (a desired health outcome) and each is in some way connected and can impact upon the other.