Brussels, 11/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission now has some valuable indications as to the strategy it should be looking at to promote healthy eating and the practice of regular physical activity within the EU, to try to prevent obesity. This comes not a moment too soon, as already in Europe, nearly 27% of men and 38% of women are obese, 14 million children are seriously overweight and more than 3 million of them are obese. Answering questions about the details of the future strategy at European level, all interested parties consulted by the Commission took position on the strategic options put forward in the Green Paper on diet, physical activity and health. The results of this consultation, which was launched on 8 December 2005, were presented on 11 September. They sum up over 260 responses, which come mainly from the governments of the Member States of the EU, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, players involved in public health, representatives of the agro-food industry, universities and the general public. The analysis of these responses will be used by the Commission to draft a coordinated strategy at EU scale and in the Member States. A communication on this subject is expected for the first quarter of 2007.
The majority of those who took part in the consultation called for: - a multi-sectorial approach covering different Community policies (agriculture, education, transport and urbanism), involving stakeholders at national, regional and local level, and particularly focusing on the worst-affected children and young people (the number of overweight children is growing at a rate of 400,000 per annum); - the better coordination of actions, the exchange of best practice between Member States and the establishment of guidelines for diet and physical activity, based on scientific data; - consumer awareness (by such means as labelling) which is clear, coherent and scientifically based. Whilst representatives of the industry favour self-regulation, however, health care professionals, consumer associations and NGOs are sceptical about the effects of self-regulation on the advertising of foodstuffs which are high in calories but low on nutrition; - the promotion of a well-balanced diet, encouraging the consumption of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, starches and fibre-rich products, whilst persuading consumers to reduce their intake of fat and saturated fats, sugars, fizzy drinks and salt, and to reduce their portion size; - the improved nutritional value of school meals by dint of best practice (food education programmes, free or subsidised fruits and vegetables and drinking water, kitchen staff training, general orientations or standards for school meals); - encouraging healthy lifestyles in the workplace, either by looking at the products on offer in staff canteens or vending machines, or by offering sporting activities on a daily basis, on the work premises or close by. In a press release, Markos Kyprianou, Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, comments: "the prevalence of obesity has been rising fast in Europe and there is already evidence that this is leading to increasing rates of conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The results of the consultation provide us with valuable feedback from all interested parties and will inform our strategy (...). The Commission will now consider which policy options to adopt, and fine-tune its action with the right balance between voluntary agreements and legislative action". To do this, the Commission will also refer to the European action platform on "Diet, Physical Activity and Health", the voluntary initiative launched in March 2005 to promote best practice and codes of conduct, and to its Nutrition and Physical Activity Network, which offer forums for discussion between the public authorities, industry and civil society.