Health and Consumers Health and Consumers The EU platform for action on diet, physical activity and health. What has been achieved, what more can be done? ELC Symposium 21 November, 2012 Philippe Roux European Commission

Health and Consumers Health and Consumers Unhealthy diets and physical inactivity "contribute" to Chronic Diseases

Health and Consumers Health and Consumers Obesity Update OECD 2012 Obesity rates remain high Social disparities in obesity unabated At least 1 in 2 people is overweight or obese in over half of OECD countries Severely obese people lose life years An obese person incurs 25% higher health expenditures in any given year New measures taxes on unhealthy foods and beverages increasingly comprehensive strategies by many governments

Health and Consumers Health and Consumers The White Paper The last three decades have seen the levels of overweight and obesity in the EU population rise dramatically. This is particularly worrying among children, where the estimated prevalence of overweightness was 30% in The EU Strategy on Nutrition, Overweight and Obesity Related Health Issues, also known as the White Paper, is the Commission's response to these concerns – not SANCO response only. The White Paper is built upon five main pillars: Creating better informed consumers Making the healthy option available Encouraging physical activity Priority groups and settings Developing an evidence base to support policy making decisions 4

Health and Consumers Health and Consumers Intervention logic of the EU Strategy on Nutrition, overweight and obesity Health related issues 5

Health and Consumers Health and Consumers An action oriented process The Platform is part of a broader EU Strategy on Nutrition, Overweight and Obesity-related Health Issues. The development of effective partnerships is a basic principle for action. The Platform Charter reads: “a cooperative and action-oriented approach is respected”. 33 Platform members industry public health NGOs health professionals consumer groups

Health and Consumers Health and Consumers What’s the nature of the Platform? cooperative voluntarism multi-stakeholder forum for action discussion on action “agree to disagree” each commitment is subject to other members’ criticism all common actions are challenged from multiple perspectives

Health and Consumers Health and Consumers How does it work? Members have full responsibility for financing, implementing, monitoring and reporting the actions Areas of commitments consumer information, including labelling education, including lifestyle modification physical activity promotion marketing and advertising composition of foods, availability of healthy food options, portion sizes advocacy and information exchange

Health and Consumers Health and Consumers Who benefits from the work of the Platform? Geographical and population reach just under 40% of commitments target more than 50% of the EU population* 55% of commitments are multi-national and target more than one Member State* *Mid-term Evaluation Report Priority target groups children and adolescents low socio-economic groups senior citizens

Health and Consumers Health and Consumers Who benefits from the work of the Platform? Distribution of assessed commitments per target audience Annual Report 2011

Health and Consumers Health and Consumers Who benefits from the work of the Platform? Number of commitments per activity type addressing children and adolescents Annual Report 2012

Health and Consumers Health and Consumers Who benefits from the work of the Platform? Percentage of commitments by geographical coverage Annual Report 2012

Health and Consumers Health and Consumers What else happens in the Platform? Exchange of information on other initiatives and good practices out of the Platform Information on developments in the work of EU institutions and Member States Updates on recent events and publications in the Platform field of work Observers from the WHO, EFSA, ECOSOC, certain Member States, EP, relevant scientists

Health and Consumers Health and Consumers Is the Platform successful? More than 300 commitments in 6 years External Mid-term Evaluation – conclusions Balanced distribution between not-for-profit and for-profit members Better understanding among members through “dialogue that has become more constructive and less confrontational over the years” Platform commitments in the areas of advertising/marketing to children and food/drink reformulation are having an impact.* *based on 2 case studies Selected case studies suggest commitments in the areas of marketing/advertising to children and food/drink reformulation are being implemented effectively.

Health and Consumers Health and Consumers Platform ACTIONS primarily linked to members’ core business activities - examples* *Mid-term Evaluation Report SectorType of commitment Food & Drink Implementation of GDA nutrition labelling schemes Advertising Promotion and adoption of advertising self-regulatory mechanisms and codes Sports & Fitness Creation of links between health clubs and schools Agriculture Teaching children about food production Retail & Catering Implementation of national guidelines and information of products' nutrition content

Health and Consumers Health and Consumers Concrete results from Platform commitments - examples More than children have benefitted from Platform actions encouraging physical activity 10 dedicated websites featuring healthy nutrition and physical activity topics (one more in the pipeline) Food reformulation 183 tons of salt reduction ( ) 1314 tons of fat reduction ( ) 2229 tons of sugar reduction ( )

Health and Consumers Health and Consumers Concrete results from Platform commitments: examples The renewed Pledge (approximately 80% of food and beverage advertising spent in the EU) Voluntary commitment No advertising of products to children under 12 years*, except for products which fulfil shared specific nutrition thresholds based on accepted scientific evidence and/or applicable national and international dietary guidelines. Media covered : TV, Print, third-party internet and company-owned websites, Audience definition: >35% No communication related to products in primary schools, except where specifically requested by, or agreed with, the school administration for educational purposes.

Health and Consumers Health and Consumers Concrete results from Platform commitments: examples Diet, Physical Activity and CVD Prevention in Europe Scientific reviews on fats, salt, sugars, dietary fibre, complex carbohydrates, fruit and vegetables, BMI/energy intake, physical activity, folate, polyphenols and CVD Research findings published in a report Main target audience: policy makers More than 1600 hits of the launched website Policy conference with the participation of Director General Paola Testori Coggi to disseminate the results and to address stakeholders

Health and Consumers Health and Consumers Concrete results from Platform commitments : examples Stakeholders discussing out of home nutrition information survey indicates consumer interest in information on calories in restaurants advocacy action aiming to: look at provision of nutrition information on foods in restaurants and other food establishments lead informal discussions with representatives of the restaurant sector exchange views on communicating consumer information at point of sale

Health and Consumers Health and Consumers Platform : the way forward Improvements of already existing commitments and new ones: responsible advertising/marketing to children food reformulation Vulnerable groups children and adolescents low socio-economic groups Physical activity and sports Reaching out to schools with the aim of increasing physical activity and ……………………………………… making the healthy option available;

Health and Consumers Health and Consumers Strategy Evaluation Based upon three pillars: - Case studies according to desired outcomes - Analysis of statistics & trends - Evaluation according to instruments 21

Health and Consumers Health and Consumers Evaluation approach 22

Health and Consumers Health and Consumers Milestones and Deliverables Interim report7 December 2012 Steering group meeting18 December 2012 Draft final reportEnd March 2013 (exact date TBD) Steering group meetingEarly April 2013 Final report29 April 2013 Seminar with HLG membersTBD 23

Health and Consumers Health and Consumers 24