ABSTRACT
Systems thinking encourages us to look at the ‘bigger picture’, recognising how people, populations and organisations act and evolve in response to each other and their contexts. Given the complex and inter-related causes of diet-related non-communicable diseases, and the complex contexts in which food system policies are designed and implemented, the value of systems thinking for understanding and intervening within the food environment and wider food system is increasingly recognised. This chapter will introduce the field of systems thinking and complexity science from a population health perspective and review research that has applied systems approaches to understand and improve food environments and inform policy.
