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A concise overview of national nutrition action plans in the European Union Member States

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Lachat, C Van Camp, J. De Henauw, S Matthys, C Larondelle, Yvan [UCL] Kolsteren, P

Objective: This study presents an overview of national nutrition action plans in the member states of the European Union (EU), before its enlargement in 2004. In addition, their compliance with key recommendations of the World Health Organization, as documented in the First Action Plan for Food and Nutrition Policy and the Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, has tentatively been evaluated on the basis of the policy documents published. Design: Literature review of publicly available policy national plans on nutrition and physical activity. Setting: Member states of the EU before enlargement in May 2004. Results: The development of national nutrition action plans is gaining momentum. Six of the 15 EU member states - namely, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, France, The Netherlands and the UK - have an operational nutrition policy and four of them have published an elaborated description of their nutrition policy in English. By the end of 2004, another four countries are expected to have their plan finalised. The available nutrition action plans generally seem to comply with international recommendations, although large variations are observed between the member states in terms of terminology, nutritional recommendations, institutional framework, nutritional scope, social groups targeted and monitoring and evaluation structures. Conclusions: Although the importance of nutritional surveillance, a comprehensive approach to nutritional problems and stakeholder involvement is recognised by the action plans, the justification for it is vaguely described. This paper advocates for proper evaluation and documentation of interventions in public health nutrition and nutrition policies.

Document type Article de périodique (Journal article) – Article de recherche
Publication date 2005
Language Anglais
Journal information "Public Health Nutrition" - Vol. 8, no. 3, p. 266-274 (2005)
Peer reviewed yes
Publisher Cabi Publishing (Wallingford)
issn 1368-9800
e-issn 1475-2727
Publication status Publié
Affiliation UCL - AGRO/BAPA - Département de biologie appliquée et des productions agricoles
Keywords nutrition policy ; global strategy ; eurodiet ; nutrition recommendations ; physical activity
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Bibliographic reference Lachat, C ; Van Camp, J. ; De Henauw, S ; Matthys, C ; Larondelle, Yvan ; et. al. A concise overview of national nutrition action plans in the European Union Member States. In: Public Health Nutrition, Vol. 8, no. 3, p. 266-274 (2005)
Permanent URL http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/39327