What can policy makers do?
In order to respond to this situation, policymakers
may consider certain actions that:
Create healthy food and drink environments
• 	restrict the marketing of food and nonalcoholic
beverages to children
•	 promote easy-to-understand front of pack
labelling
• 	improve nutritional content of food products,
such as through salt, saturated fat and sugar
reduction
• 	ban the use of trans fat in all foods and
processes
Promote healthy diets throughout life
• 	promote, protect and support exclusive
breastfeeding in the first 6 months
• 	introduce healthy school meals and school
fruit schemes as standard
Reinforce health systems to promote
healthy diets
• 	nutrition counselling and obesity
management should be freely available
through health systems
Engage everyone in making change
•	 ensure affordability and availability of healthy
foods by engaging government departments
outside of the health sector and identifying
joint goals and actions
Fact Sheet Food and Nutrition
Unhealthy diets are the leading
factor affecting health and wellbeing
in every European country
Excessive consumption of saturated fats, trans fatty acids, sugar
and salt increase the risk of overweight and obesity, cardiovascular
diseases, diabetes and several types of cancer. These conditions
are the main cause of illness and disability across the Region. Of
the six WHO regions, the European Region is the most severely
affected by noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). The four major NCDs
– cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and respiratory diseases –
account for 77% of death and disability and almost 86% of premature
deaths in the Region.
Why are NCDs so common in the European Region?
•	 Consumption of salt exceeds WHO recommendations (less than
5 g per day) in every European country where data are available.
Many countries show double digit consumption.
•	 Only five countries report per capita consumption of saturated fat
within recommended limits.
•	 Consumption of soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages
among children and adolescents is very high, and in many
countries they are the single biggest source of free sugars for
young people. Many sodas contain 20–30 g of sugar, which can
be as much as 9 teaspoons in a standard serving (330 ml). WHO
currently recommends that free sugars contribute no more than
10% of total energy, but has issued draft guidelines suggesting a
further reduction to below 5% of total energy. For many children,
one serving of soda could contribute over half of this.
•	 While consumption of trans fatty acids has declined in some
countries, it remains a concern in many parts of the Region where
no policy or ban is in place. Some food categories, such as bakery
products, margarines and spreads, contain large amounts of trans
fatty acids, and specific population groups, particularly poorer
communities, can consume very high levels.
Overweight and obesity rates are extremely high in many countries in
the Region:
•	 More than 50% of adults are overweight or obese in 46 of the 53
countries in the Region.
•	 On average, one in three children aged 6–9 years are overweight or
obese.1
•	 Overweight and obesity are most common among poor and
disadvantaged groups in the vast majority of countries and, in
some, the gap is widening.
over 50%
of people are
overweight
or obese
over 20%
of people are
obese
In the WHO European Region
1
In countries participating in the WHO Europe Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI)
For further information, visit our website: www.euro.who.int/nutrition
WHO Regional Office for Europe | UN City, Marmorvej 51 | DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø | Tel: +45 4533 7000
WHO response
WHO has highlighted the need to promote healthy diets, increase physical
activity and prevent obesity both at global and European levels for more
than a decade. Highlights of this ongoing work at Regional level include:
•		 establishing the world-leading Childhood Obesity Surveillance
Initiative (COSI), which collects nationally-represented, measured and
internationally comparable data on overweight and obesity among
primary schoolchildren;
•		 engaging with Member States via the WHO Europe Action Networks,
notably in the areas of food marketing to children and salt reduction;
and
•		 providing innovative technical advice to Member States in the full
range of policy areas, including recent work on nutrient profile models
for the purposes of restrictions on food marketing to children.
•	 Fruit and vegetables are not available in sufficient quantities
in many countries making it hard to meet the recommended
availability of more than 600 g per capita per day.
•	 Less than 40% of mothers exclusively breastfeed their babies for
the first 6 months.
What is driving this trend towards more unhealthy
diets?
Changes to how food is processed and delivered and our eating habits
have had a huge effect.
•	 Globally, calories and nutrients obtained from meat, sugars,
oils and fats have increased and have become relatively more
affordable, while calories from foods that should form the largest
part of the diet such as whole grains, pulses and root vegetables
have been declining. There are many reasons for this shift, but
changes to trade and agricultural policies are key factors.
•	 Modern processing, distribution and retail mean that highlyprocessed
convenience foods, often high in saturated fats, trans
fats, sugar or salt, are increasingly available and affordable in many
countries. In many cases, consumers struggle to identify healthy
options.
•	 The marketing and promotion of food on television and
billboards, online and via social media tend to be for foods high in
saturated fats, trans fats, sugar or salt, and often target children.
•	 Increased portion sizes, eating outside the home, take-away foods,
snacking, and consuming sugar-sweetened beverages instead of
water have changed the way we consume food.
Key landmarks for food and nutrition
policy
WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and
Health (2004)
United Nations Political Declaration on the
Prevention and Control of NCDs (2011)
Global targets on maternal, infant and young child
nutrition (2012), focusing on promoting exclusive
breastfeeding in the first 6 months, and halting the
increase in overweight among children under the
age of 5
Vienna Declaration on Nutrition and NCD in the
Context of Health 2020 (2013) from the WHO
European Ministerial Conference on Nutrition and
NCDs in the Context of Health 2020
Global action plan for the prevention and control of
NCDs 2013–2020 (2013)
Set of 9 voluntary global NCD targets for 2025, part
of the NCD Global Monitoring Framework (2013),
including a 0% increase in obesity among adults by
2025.
1
2
3
4
5
6
Useful links:
Draft European Food and Nutrition Action Plan 2015–2020 – http://www.euro.who.int/food-and-nutrition-action-plan
WHO/Europe website on nutrition – http://www.euro.who.int/nutrition
WHO/Europe country profiles on nutrition, physical activity and obesity
http://www.euro.who.int/en/country-profiles-on-nutrition,-physical-activity-and-obesity
Nutrition, obesity and physical activity (NOPA) database – http://data.euro.who.int/nopa/
Methodology and summary
Country profiles on
nutrition, physical activity and obesity in the
53 WHO European Region Member States