European Commission Green Paper on promoting healthy diets and physical activity

The Department of Health will lead on providing the UK Government response to this consultation, which closes on 15 March. We will therefore be providing input into the drafting of this response in the coming weeks.

The key messages in the Green Paper are that unhealthy diets and lack of physical activity are the leading cause of preventable illness and premature death across the European Union (EU), and that the EU-wide rise in obesity is a multi-factorial problem requiring a co-ordinated and diversified approach.

Much of the emphasis in the Green Paper is on non-legislative action based on partnership and information sharing between stakeholders. As such, the paper seeks to build on the approach of the Commission�s existing Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health.

The Green Paper also notes the importance of embedding healthier lifestyles into wider EU policy making, and, in doing so, ensuring coherence across policy sectors. A number of key areas for action are identified, including:

• focusing on children and young people
• controls on advertising and marketing
• ways of promoting better diets and physical activity
• using recommended nutrient intakes and nutrient profiling
• building overweight and obesity prevention and treatment into national health services;
• supporting co-ordination and cross-cutting action on the food chain, planning, transport etc

The document does not so much propose actions as pose a number of questions.

Of particular interest to the Agency are those concerning:

• the availability, attractiveness and affordability of fruit and vegetables
• what nutritional information to provide to consumers
• is self-regulation adequate to limit advertising and marketing of less healthy foods?
• consumer education
• improving the nutritional value of school and other meals for children

All of these areas are well represented in activity arising from both the Choosing Health White Paper and our own Strategic Plan.

This is an opportunity to help shape the direction of the Commission�s policy, as it will move on to draft a strategy by the end of the year after publishing the outcome of this consultation in June.