1. „Healthy eating from the start“ A health promotion programme for pregnant and breastfeeding women and children up to 3 years of age 1

2. Partners Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES)
Federal Ministry of Health
Main Association of Austrian Social Security Institutions

3. Background
Children’s food preferences can already be influenced by the mother‘s diet during pregnancy and lactation
A well balanced diet and good eating habits are important due to their health-promoting and preventive potentials (throughout the life course)
Target-group-specific and environment-oriented measures are needed to reduce the prevalence of nutrition- and lifestyle- associated diseases

4. Aims
Improvement of the dietary habits and the food environment of pregnant and breastfeeding women and children up to the age of 3 years

5. tailored actions and activities on 3 levels
Methods
Austrian wide action plan (based on national and international models of good practice and appropriate intervention strategies)
providing latest scientific knowledge for the public and experts
putting the scientific knowlege into practice in a target-group- specific way
exchanging information between national and international projects
macro (social and legal regulations)
meso (setting, environment and communities)
Micro (families and individuals)
tailored actions and activities on 3 levels

6. Examples for implementation
Scientific research/publications for experts
Publications for the target-groups
Workshops 6

7. Scientific research /publications for experts
Systematic review on health effects of cow´s milk consumption in infants up to 3 years of age
Evaluation of the labelling of complementary food products
Austrian guidelines on complementary feeding - scientifically grounded, quality assured and agreed with experts
Currently in progress: development of scientifically grounded and quality assured guidelines on nutrition of 1- to 3-year-old toddlers

8. Publications for the target-groups (examples)
Brochure on complementary feeding intended for parents and other carers, also available in Turkish and Bosnian-Croatian-Serb language
Information graphics on infant nutrition in the first year of life

9. Workshops
Workshops on nutrition in pregnancy and lactation and workshops on complementary feeding - implemented successfully Austrian wide
Train the trainer programmes (dieticians, nutritionists, doctors, midwifes)

10. Further information 10