Brussels, 12/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - Speaking at the joint meeting of the High Level Group on Nutrition and Physical Activity and the EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health on Tuesday 10 June, Tonio Borg, European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy, announced that joint action would be undertaken by member states by 2015, to help ensure implementation of the action plan adopted last February which addresses health issues linked to being over-weight and childhood obesity. This plan involves a multi-sectoral approach towards at-risk behaviour and will bring on board all the different stakeholders (European Union member states, European Commission international organisations, civil society, families and industry etc.). The Commissioner stated that the joint action could help member states share best practices and develop tools focusing on childhood obesity that would yield results more quickly. Borg is pleased with the initiatives already taken by member states to reduce levels of salt and saturated fats in food and would like further efforts to be taken to step up the monitoring of foods that contain ingredients that make it difficult to have a balanced diet. There have also been initiatives that tackle the issue of portion sizes and the frequent consumption of certain foods. The commissioner pointed out that obesity, particularly among children, is reaching worrying proportions in European Union and that, in this context, efforts must be continued to reduce this trend. (IL)