WITH poor nutrition and insufficient exercise among the leading causes of avoidable death in Europe and around 14 million EU citizens currently overweight or obese, the European Union has been forced to take action.
Cyprus contributes to this figure with a quarter of its adult population registered as obese, with England and Germany not far behind.
If nothing is done soon, these figures are expected to continue to rise for the foreseeable future.
The alarming findings were published yesterday as part of a European Union effort to begin an extensive public consultation on how to reduce obesity levels and the prevalence of associated chronic diseases, estimated to account for as much as seven per cent of total healthcare costs in the EU.
Obesity is a risk factor for many serious illnesses including heart disease, type-2 diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and certain types of cancer.
In an effort to clamp down on increasing obesity levels, the European Commission adopted a Green Paper promoting healthy diets and physical activity.
EU Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said yesterday: “The rise in obesity is a Europe-wide problem which requires a co-ordinated Europe-wide approach if we are to contain and reverse this trend. More than 400,000 children are estimated to become overweight every year, and today’s overweight teenagers are tomorrow’s heart attack or diabetes victims.
“The Commission’s Green Paper aims to stimulate discussion about effective initiatives to promote healthy diets and physical activity, so best practice can be replicated across Europe. Apart from the health benefits and cost savings to be made from tackling obesity, a co-ordinated European approach will also ensure that the single market is not undermined by the emergence of a patchwork of unco-ordinated national measures.”
Green papers are intended to open discussion on specific EU policy areas, with organisations and individuals invited to participate in the debate. In some cases they lead to legislation.
The paper calls for concrete suggestions and ideas which could complement, support and co-ordinate existing national measures to address this serious problem, as well as encourage Europeans towards healthier lifestyles.
Ideas discussed in the paper include clearer food labelling and improving the nutritional content of school and office canteen meals, as well as what community or national measures could contribute towards improving the availability, accessibility and affordability of fruits and vegetables.
The paper also raises the debate over advertising of high sugar, salt or fat products, asks whether nutrient profile scoring systems could improve consumer awareness of healthy foods and questions ways in which public policies can contribute to ensure that physical activity be “built into” daily routines.
A public consultation on the paper will run until March 15 next year, and a report summarising the contributions will be published on the Commission’s website three months later.
The Commission will then “reflect upon the most appropriate follow-up, and will consider any measures that may need to be proposed, as well as the instruments for their implementation”.
