Retail food environments are the places where we all shop and buy our food. That includes everything from supermarkets, convenience stores, online, to markets and farmer's markets. 

They're all what we'd call retail food environments. Food environments in most of the world are awash with unhealthy food.

And so that's what children are growing up with, and they see that as normal, and that becomes the norm to them. 

It is very clear that the East Asia Pacific region has made great progress in reducing forms of undernutrition among children and adolescents, but at the same time, we see the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents is increasing sharply in this region.

Currently, 90 million children and adolescents live with overweight and obesity. In addition, some 11 million children under the age of five live with overweight. 

And there is a risk that these numbers will increase sharply if measures are not taken. 

We have a very unique strategy of engaging the government, specifically the Department of Health and retail companies themselves, to create healthier stores for healthier families.

So the work we're doing with Adrian's team is co-designing and testing solutions with retail companies at the local level to change their business practices, to instead promote healthier food and drink in their stores based on the evidence that Adrian's team and ourselves can present to them. 

A lot of the work we do is focused on the marketing within retail food environments.

So that involves things like price promotions, price discounts, the placement of things, different promotions that retails and food manufacturers do. 

We look at the retail food environment as the interface between the food system and the customer. Adrian's team has given us access to the data, the technical expertise, and just as importantly, the insightful strategy.

We need to become effective advocates for healthier stores and healthier diets. We have been able to develop the evidence base in four countries. 

We're now developing the tools and the approaches and the engagements with retailers. So that food, retailers, supermarkets, convenience stores can become healthier and help support healthy eating among children and adolescents.

I guess one of the things that has become increasingly clear is just the power of working with an organisation like UNICEF. As researchers, we can provide the evidence. We can only do so much. But to partner with implementation organisations like UNICEF is incredibly powerful. It's really valuable for us.

And as researchers, what we're trying to do is have an impact. 

So it's a perfect way of turning our research into impact. My experience of working with colleagues has been truly amazing. It is very clear that colleagues are among the world's leaders in their field, and that they strive for scientific excellence.

But what is truly remarkable about the Deacon University researchers is that they're fully aware that the ultimate impact of the work is not just limited to the quality of scientific publications, but through their work very much wants to make a difference also in the policies and programs that governments implement.