The European Commission has published a consultative green paper on promoting healthy diets and physical activity to help tackle the growing prevalence of obesity. Presenting the report, Markos Kyprianou, the health commissioner, said: “The rise in obesity is a Europe–wide problem which requires a coordinated Europe–wide approach if we are to contain and reverse this trend.”
Over the past decade in European countries the number of obese people has increased by between 10% and 40%. Around 14 million European Union citizens are now considered obese or overweight. Of these, three million are children, and this number grows by some 400 000 every year.
The green paper underlines not only the effects on health of obesity, which increases the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and certain types of cancer, but also its effect on public health systems. The annual cost of care of an obese adult, US research indicates, is 37% more than that of a person of normal weight, and treatment of obesity and related illnesses is estimated to account for 7% of total healthcare costs in the EU.
The consultative exercise is designed to attract input from a wide range of sources—national authorities, the food industry, health and non–governmental organisations, and the public—on the best ways to address the problem.
It also poses specific questions such as the most effective ways to build physical activity into daily routines, to improve the nutritional value of school meals, and to enable consumers to make informed choices.
The commission itself is looking at how to integrate the promotion of healthier lifestyles into other EU policies and the role that its new health and consumer programme may have in tackling obesity. Another aspect raised by the green paper is the contribution that self regulation by the food and advertising industry can make.
Earlier this year the commission established an advisory group that includes representatives from consumer and health organisations and food manufacturers and advertisers to tackle obesity. It has identified five areas for action: consumer information and labelling; education; promotion of physical activity; marketing and advertising; and food issues, such as portion sizes and healthy options.
In addition, EU governments and the European parliament are currently considering new rules on the use of health and nutritional claims on food labels. The legislation is designed to prevent consumers from being misled by information on the food they buy.
The commission will present the results of the public consultation, which will run until 15 March 2006, in a report that it intends to publish before the end of June. The green paper is at http://europa.eu.int/comm/health/ph/determinants/life/style/nutrition/documents/nutrition/gp/en.pdf