Context

Origins/context – a public matter

Adequate information on nutrition is necessary in the light of the increasing number of adults and children affected by obesity and overweight due to poor food and nutrition patterns. This rise of obesity trends and chronicle diseases in developed countries has warned public authorities on a necessary action plan. In this framework, a “Charter on Counteracting Obesity” was signed in 2006 by European Ministers together with the World Health Organisation

Balanced nutrition is becoming an overall need for the well-being of European citizens who are getting aware about causes of nutrition problems, obesity and are looking for ways to change their eating habits and lifestyles. Public and private sectors are urged to work together on varied solutions to tackle the phenomenon and initiatives flourished in Europe and beyond.

Moreover, whereas common thoughts disseminate the idea that healthy food does not match purchasing power worries, the project aims at proving the opposite. When preferring the local products, fresh and free of travel costs, purchasing power can benefit from this choice.

For the first time, experts from many different and complementary areas have decided to work together in six countries in order to create a strong communication link between the offer and the demand sides. Multi-stakeholder approaches and action at multi-levels may be the answer.

Learn more about the obesity phenomenon in Europe: “Why this project?”

Read more about the project: “The project – a solution to public issues”

The European Union – policy and support

A number of structures and instruments have been set up at Community level:

European Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health

Launched in March 2005, its aim is to establish a framework for joint action in the fight against obesity. It brings together all the relevant actors at European level who wish to take on binding commitments in the fight against excessive weight and obesity.

European Network on Diet and Physical Activity now called High Level Group on Nutrition

The network was set up in 2003 with the different Member States to advise the Commission on drawing up Community-wide actions in the field of nutrition, the prevention of diet-related illnesses, the promotion of physical activity and the fight against obesity.

Health Promotion in EU Policies

The prevention of excessive weight and obesity requires an integrated strategy for the promotion of health that links up with other Community policies (on consumers, social, agriculture, environment, education, etc.) and benefits from their active support.

The Action Programme in the field of Public Health

The questions of nutrition and the problem of obesity are covered in different parts of the action programme, notably in its section on information (collection of data on the epidemiology of obesity and on behavioural questions) and its section on the health factors (support for projects aimed at promoting physical exercise and healthy eating habits).

A White Paper from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on: A Strategy for Europe on Nutrition, Overweight and Obesity related health issues has been published in May 2007. It brings a strategy of partnership and a national as well as European scale plan of action.

Following the objectives of its policy, the European Commission, through its Health and Consumers Directorate General (DG SANCO) launched the Second Programme of Community Action in the Field of Health 2008-2013.

« The main focus of this strand is to address health determinants through health promotion and disease prevention measures, by supporting and developing broad measures of health promotion and disease prevention as well as specific risk reduction and elimination instruments. This involves promoting the positive determinants of health and fighting against the negative determinants in order to improve the quality of life in the population, and to reduce the burden of morbidity and mortality »

The 3 objectives of the Programme are :

To improve citizens’ health security ;
To promote health, including the reduction of health inequalities ;
To generate and disseminate health information and knowledge.

The management and the implementation of the Health Programme are under the responsibility of the Executive Agency for Health and Consumers (EAHC). FOOD is one of the new projects co-financed by the European Union

The project – a solution to public issues

General objective

The FOOD project contributes to the promotion of healthier lifestyles during the working day by giving consumers the keys to understand and to act.

The two main objectives are :

To sensitise employees in order to help them to improve their nutrition
To improve the nutritional quality of the offer by working with restaurant owners, cooks and waiters

Specific objectives

To evaluate the needs and expectations regarding nutrition information
To collect experts’ recommendations after the understanding of the needs
To adapt the recommendations into practical guides
To adapt the offer to the demand of the consumers
To organise useful trainings according to the countries
To enable a large access to detailed information to the targets

The project will reach 6 countries during 2009 and 2010, inviting 52 000 employees (about 3 000 companies) to participate to the campaign, and 5000 restaurants.

Why acting in the workplace?

It is often difficult to have a proper healthy meal at lunch time, during the working day. The food offer around the companies lacks sometimes variety.
The workplace is an important opportunity to improve employees’ health and wellness and thereby to increase their productivity and reduce absenteeism, as underlined by the EU platform on Diet, Physical Activity and Health.

In the WHITE PAPER of the EC on its nutrition strategy, it is underlined that :

« Businesses can also support the development of healthy lifestyles in the workplace. Together with employee organisations, they should also develop proposals/guidelines for ways in which companies of different sizes can introduce simple, cost-effective measures to promote healthy lifestyles of employees ».

Acting through the working place is also a way to sensitise employers to corporate health policy as well, and to invite them to integrate such measures into the organisational structure.