EFSA to make nutrition and obesity a top priority in 2007
Nutrition, diet and obesity will be high on the 2007 agenda of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), according to Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle, the agency's Executive Director. Speaking at a conference in Brussels on combating obesity, Ms Geslain-Lanéelle said that the agency planned to increase significantly resources dedicated to nutrition and in particular the impact of diet and lifestyle on chronic diseases and conditions such as obesity. The number of adults that are clinically obese or overweight has increased across Europe over the last 20 years. Of great concern is the rate of childhood obesity, which has increased sharply, and some studies show that one in five is now overweight. 'These trends show that we are clearly facing challenges in Europe with respect to diet and lifestyle,' she said. A substantial amount of scientific knowledge is already available on the relationship between diet and lifestyle, and conditions such as obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cancer and osteoporosis. The role of the EFSA, Ms Geslain-Lanéelle explained, would be 'to bring the various strands together to develop a state of the art European perspective in this field'. She went on to detail the areas in which EFSA could play a role. A total of 60 scientific opinions and statements have already been issued by the agency on dietary intakes and the health effects of nutrients such as trans fatty acids and sodium. Ms Geslain-Lanéelle said that the agency's Nutrition Panel will set further recommended intakes on other dietary components. 'This will lead, among others, to the establishment for adults and children, of energy requirements needed to ensure healthy body weights and prevent obesity,' she noted. Another area where EFSA is expected to play a significant role is in coordinating the collection and analysis of dietary intake from across all EU countries. A meeting of the national food consumption database managers is already planned for January 2007. Communicating the links between diet and well-being to the public will also be top of the agency's agenda in 2007. A recently published Eurobarometer survey shows that the majority of Europeans are generally aware of what 'eating a healthy diet' means, and the dangers of obesity. However, only 20% of those interviewed claim to have made dietary changes in the last year - mainly because they wish to lose weight and stay healthy. 'It may be that consumers, despite being aware of a wealth of information on an issue such as this, feel that they themselves are not personally concerned by these trends or perhaps do not know how best to act on the information available,' said Ms Geslain-Lanéelle. 'This, I believe, further underlines the need for direct, clear and effective communications to consumers.' EFSA plans to provide guidance to Member States on how to translate nutrient recommendations into advice on foods and healthy diets - the so-called 'food-based dietary guidelines'. It will also contribute to the new Regulation on Nutrition and Health Claims to ensure that consumers are receiving the right information about the food they eat.