4.A. Workshop: Public health interventions to counteract unhealthy diets towards a better consumer knowledge

Unhealthy diet represents the most important risk factor for chronic non-communicable diseases in Europe. It has been estimated that about half EU citizens are overweight and obese, with over a million deaths yearly are due to dietary risk factors. The growing share of energy-dense nutrient-poor unhealthy foods seem to be, at least in part, responsible for inadequate diet quality, especially among the younger population. While the current situation is already dramatic, future projections on the burden of non-communicable diseases are truly alarming if prevention control is not put in action today. However, public health interventions to improve the impact of sub-optimal quality food are challenging and require a multifaced call to action to counteract the exposure to this obesogenic environment. The transition to healthy and sustainable diets should be facilitated by policy interventions, such as adoption of front-of-pack nutrition labelling for food that would make healthy food easier to choose. The nutritional and non-nutritional content of products in the food market is driven by the industry, thus not necessarily in the best interest of the consumer. While there is consistent scientific evidence on this matter, there is still no action taken from policy makers. Empowering the consumer by improving health literacy could be another strategy to drive EU citizens toward health-conscious dietary choices. However, current efforts from a public health perspective are just shyly raising and are far from optimal nor are getting any actual results. The EUPHA Public health and law, EUPHA Food and nutrition, EUPHA Health literacy, and EUPHA Ethics Sections aim to propose this workshop to discuss about the current status of scientific evidence on the role of products in the food market and health in Europe, public health actions (such as front-of-pack labels) and missed opportunities from the EU Commission to put into practice the retrieved knowledge. Strategies for a better involvement of the citizens and explore new perspectives to counteract the burden of diseases associated with suboptimal diets will be also discussed. KEY MESSAGES: • The food market is most entirely regulated by food industry, with poor quality control from a public health perspective. • Adequate information of consumers may represent a key to counteract unhealthy diets.