Scaling up innovative interventions to improve healthy eating and heart health in Australia

Improving diets for the prevention of cardiovascular disease across the population and in the most vulnerable groups in Australia

Dr Kathy Trieu, University of New South Wales

Future Leader Fellowship - Level 1

Years funded: 2025 - 2028

Poor diets are responsible for 1 of every 5 deaths worldwide, most of which are cardiovascular disease deaths. There are two rapidly growing innovative interventions for improving diets that are supported by strong global evidence; 1) potassium-enriched salt substitutes, and 2) Food is Medicine programs; however, the challenge is tailoring and scaling up the implementation of such interventions so that they are effective, acceptable, and feasible in Australia.

My 4-year research program will generate locally-tailored evidence to support the implementation of:

1. Strategies to accelerate the replacement of salt with potassium-enriched salt used by both consumers and food manufacturers of packaged foods to lower blood pressure and cardiovascular disease risk across the Australian population
2. ‘Food is Medicine’ programs which allows doctors and healthcare professionals to ‘prescribe’ nutritious foods at low or no cost as part of medical treatment for high-risk people experiencing food insecurity (difficulty accessing or affording foods).

These two streams of research will improve diets for the prevention of cardiovascular disease across the population and in the most vulnerable groups in Australia.