This publication presents a vast array of experience, insight and points of view on current issues in food and nutrition policy-making across Europe.

Poor nutrition, foodborne disease and lack of secure access to good food make an important contribution to the burden of disease and mortality in the WHO European Region. Better diets, food safety and food security will not only reduce or prevent suffering to individuals and societies but also help cut costs to health care systems and bring social and economic benefits to countries. People's chances for a healthy diet depend less on individual choices than on what food is available and whether it is affordable. Policies to benefit health through good food and nutrition must extend beyond the health sector to include sectors ranging from agriculture and food processing, manufacturing and trade to transport, retailing, catering and advertising. Food and nutrition policies should be coordinated so that public health is given due priority in the making of food policies by non-health sectors. This publication discusses in depth the components of food and nutrition policies and the evicence of supporting them. It higlights the urgent need for integrated, multisectoral food and nutrition policies to encourage the sustainable production of food, its safety and the provision of food of high nutritional quality for all. [Editor]

The main objective of the report at hand was to gather available and authorized data, both published and unpublished, on the nutrition and health situation in the countries of the European Union (EU). Whereas the first report, released in 2004, included 13 EU member states and Norway, the 2009 edition covers 24 EU member states and Norway. For the collection of data, the researchers concentrated on the following points: The description of trends in food supply in the EU, focusing also on the different regions; the comparison of average daily individual food availability at household level; the evaluation of individual food consumption and energy and nutrient intake; the description of data on diet-related health indicators and status; and the analysis of food and nutrition policies in countries of the European Union. Throughout, the impact of age and gender is emphasized, and special attention is being paid to the different regions of the EU. The broad scope of the subjects covered and the improved quality of the data collected make the European Nutrition and Health Report 2009 an accurate documentation and sound source of information. Providing a basis for the work of the institutions responsible for health and nutrition policy, it is especially suitable for use in international comparisons of the nutrition and health situation.

Since the 1980s, there has been an alarming increase in the prevalence of obesity in virtually every country in the world. As obesity is known to lead to both chronic and severe medical problems, it imposes a cost not only on affected individuals and their families, but also on society as a whole. In Europe, the Obesity Prevention White Paper of May 2007 – followed by the adoption of an EU School Fruit Scheme, the acknowledgement that food advertising to children should be limited, and proposed legislation to make nutrition labeling compulsory – has firmly placed obesity on the EU agenda by laying down a multi-sectoral strategy and a basis for future action. In accordance with this growing sense of urgency, this is the first book to offer an in-depth legal analysis of obesity prevention, with particular reference to Europe. It describes what the EU has done and could do to support Member States in fighting the obesity epidemic, and clearly shows the way to locating advocacy strategies within the framework of EU law. The thorough analysis includes a discussion of the following issues: the need to address nutrition and physical activity as important health determinants; the emphasis traditionally placed at EU level on food safety rather than food quality; the need for the development of databases on nutrition and physical activity, comparable common indicators and risk assessment mechanisms; mainstreaming public health into all EU policies; the scope of EU powers in the case law of the Court of Justice; the role of information in the EU’s obesity prevention strategy; the Commission’s proposed Mandatory Nutrition Declaration; the Food Claims Regulation; the regulation of food marketing to children, and in particular the role of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and industry self-regulation; food reformulation; the use of economic instruments in the EU’s obesity prevention strategy, with an emphasis on the Common Agricultural Policy and the EU’s taxation policy; and EU action in the fields of sport, occupational health and safety, and transport policy. The author convincingly shows that conflicts of interest inherent in market forces demand a strong EU intervention, preferably through legislation than self-regulation. She also demonstrates the urgent need to reach an agreement, on the basis of reliable data, about what is effective in practice to improve lifestyles. The study acknowledges that the law is not a panacea, but nonetheless has an influential role to play in making the healthy choice an easier choice, and must move decisively towards ensuring that the societal costs associated with obesity are sustainable, and that the ultimate goal of a healthy population is achievable. The book is essential reading for everyone involved or interested in the development of the EU’s obesity prevention policy.

This booklet summarises a larger forthcoming publication containing an indepth analysis of nutritional health and the concerns regarding the supply and security of food in Europe. This summary booklet, aimed primarily at policy-makers, considers the key public health issues of concern and discusses policy options available.