Health, nutrition, overweight and obesity: Evaluation of EU and Member States' strategies
The High Level Conference on Monitoring and Evaluation of EU and Member States' strategies on nutrition, physical activity, overweight and obesity related health issues, jointly organised by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Health and Consumers and the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, took place in Brussels on 8-9 December 2010.
High Level Conference on Monitoring and Evaluation of EU and Member States' strategies on nutrition, overweight and obesity related health issues
2010 has been a cornerstone for the EU policy on nutrition and physical activity, creating a momentum for political reflection on the progress achieved so far and on the needs for future action in this area. This conference aimed to exchange experiences and views on the progress and the future of policies to help reduce overweight and obesity in the EU; to consolidate monitoring and evaluation processes; and to propose key priorities for development at EU level for 2011-2013. 2010 has also been a key year for several Member States such as Belgium which presented a short evaluation of its National Food and Health Plan.
Mr John Dalli, European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy said "Our ambition is to tackle this crucial health issue with all the instruments at our disposal, by promoting healthier diets, more physical activity and better food information to consumers. To fight obesity, we need to work closely together with national governments and our stakeholders, who have already demonstrated commitment to our Strategy's objectives."
Different parallel sessions were held wherein experts discussed different themes such as health inequalities, public private partnerships and health in all policies. The conclusions and suggestions that have come out of this successful conference will no doubt inspire policymakers at a European and at Member States’ levels.
Among the speakers at this event were the Belgian Secretary of State for Social Affairs, Jean Marc Delizée; the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy, Mr. John Dalli; Regional Director at the WHO regional Office for Europe, Zsuzsanna Jakab, Mrs. Glenis Willmott, Member of the European Parliament, and Mrs Paola Testori Coggi, Director General for the Directorate-General for Health and Consumers, the European Commission.
This conference also brought together Member State delegations, the High Level Group on Nutrition and Physical activity, WHO Monitoring National Focal Points and Nutrition Counterparts of the European Region and the EU Platform for action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health.
In addition, Mr Magnus Scheving, the impersonator of Sportacus, and the creator of LazyTown™, attended the conference and spoke about his work on promoting healthy diets and physical activity to children.
(LazyTown is a children's entertainment and lifestyle brand with internationally acclaimed TV show, Live Theatre shows, Radio Station, Music, Publishing, DVD, Apparel etc. that has a unique competitive edge in promoting a healthy lifestyle for kids).
