In May 2007, The Commission established a coherent and comprehensive Community Strategy to address the issues of overweight and obesity, by adopting the White PaperA Strategy on Nutrition, Overweight, and Obesity-related health issues(54 KB)  български (bg) čeština (cs) dansk (da) Deutsch (de) eesti keel (et) ελληνικά (el) español (es) français (fr) italiano (it) latviešu valoda (lv) lietuvių kalba (lt) magyar (hu) Malti (mt) Nederlands (nl) polski (pl) português (pt) română (ro) slovenčina (sk) slovenščina (sl) suomi (fi) svenska (sv) focussing on action that can be taken at local, regional, national and European levels to reduce the risks associated with poor nutrition and limited physical exercise, while addressing the issue of inequalities across member states.

In particular, the strategy:

• Encompasses a range of Commission policies that can be, and are being marshalled towards the purpose of improving nutrition and preventing overweight and obesity; examples (non-exhaustive) of some of these policy areas can be found listed in the table below:
  
  

  DG/ Policy Area	Initiative / Project
  Health and Consumers - Food Safety	Food Labelling Health and Nutrition Claims
  Agriculture	School Fruit Scheme School milk scheme Free Food for Europe's Poor
  Information Society – Audiovisual media services	Audiovisual Media Services Directive
  Research	Research projects in food, nutrition and health FP 6 projects
  Transport	Clean Urban Transport
  Regional Policy	European regional development fund (ERDF)
  Education and Culture	White Paper on Sport

  
  
  
• Encourages more action-oriented partnerships across the EU, involving key stakeholders working in the field of nutrition: the private sector, Member States, the European Commission and the WHO.
• Sets out a series of challenges to relevant stakeholders at all levels, notably the food industry, civil society and the media, by calling for widespread food reformulation schemes and responsible advertising.
• Sets out the Commission's plans to strengthen monitoring and reporting of the situation, in collaboration with the WHO, through initiatives such as the Nutrition Policy Database or the International inventory of documents on physical activity promotion.

Actions outlined in the strategy are based on sound scientific evidence showing relations between certain dietary and physical activity patterns and risk factors for certain chronic diseases. However, the strategy also outlines the need for further research in this area, and moreover underlines the central role of the Commission in facilitating partnerships and taking the lead in establishing a common framework for action.

Relevant health information can be found on the Public Health website under Cardiovascular Diseases and Diabetes, or by browsing the European Community Health Indicators (ECHI). Further information is available on the European Union Health Information System.

Further information - Strategy Background / Precedents

Over the past years, most action in the field of obesity prevention has been spontaneous and unilateral. This has often deprived other potential partners of participation and validation of opportunities, thus diminishing the actual value added of such initiatives. The need to create a systematic and transparent process was recognised, whereby:

• outcomes of individual actors' performances can be reported and reviewed;
• experience can be pooled and synergies can be created;
• firm commitments to action are made;
• Commitments are validated and receive credit as appropriate.

The White Paper builds on recent initiatives undertaken by the Commission, in particular:

• the EU Platform on Diet, Physical Activity and Health  български (bg) čeština (cs) dansk (da) Deutsch (de) eesti keel (et) ελληνικά (el) español (es) français (fr) italiano (it) latviešu valoda (lv) lietuvių kalba (lt) magyar (hu) Malti (mt) Nederlands (nl) polski (pl) português (pt) română (ro) slovenčina (sk) slovenščina (sl) suomi (fi) svenska (sv) , set up in March 2005 with the purpose of creating a forum for actors at European level who are willing to commit themselves to engaging in concrete actions designed to contain or reverse current trends.
• the Green Paper Promoting healthy diets and physical activity: a European dimension for the prevention of overweight, obesity and chronic diseases

Since the adoption of the White Paper, the High Level Group on Nutrition and Physical Activity  български (bg) čeština (cs) dansk (da) Deutsch (de) eesti keel (et) ελληνικά (el) español (es) français (fr) italiano (it) latviešu valoda (lv) lietuvių kalba (lt) magyar (hu) Malti (mt) Nederlands (nl) polski (pl) português (pt) română (ro) slovenčina (sk) slovenščina (sl) suomi (fi) svenska (sv) has been set up to strengthen the role of governments in counteracting overweight and obesity.