It is still too early to say whether the EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health has achieved its main objective of containing or reversing the trend of an EU-wide increase in overweight and obesity. However, five years after being put in place by the European Commission, this platform could be more effective if it improved its communication and evaluation of its action. This is the conclusion reached by the Public Health Evaluation and Impact Assessment Consortium (PHEIAC), which on 13 July published its report on the platform’s effectiveness. The evaluators suggest that the Commission act as a mediator among different views and encourage members to act more in concert.

It is clear that the platform has “brought together actors with very different interests, who were previously often antagonistic towards each other”. These include non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the food and beverage industry, consumer groups and physical fitness groups. This dialogue has led to enhanced understanding, according to 81% of platform members. However, there have been too few joint actions by members, deplore the evaluators. There have been numerous commitments – a total of 292 identified – of which more than half concern lifestyle and education. But such commitments are generally fragmented and their impact limited. The report studies the case of commitments with regard to advertising that targets children and food and drink reformulation. In the first case, self-regulation by the advertising and marketing industry, has been very effective at limiting children’s exposure to ads for foods high in fat, sugar and salt. In the latter case, the number of products for which recipes have been reformulated is “significant”. Reductions in nutrients have ranged between 5% and 80%, with most in the 25% to 50% range. These figures could be improved through greater self-regulation – for example, a stricter definition of age and audience – and better evaluation of results. Few platform members are capable of saying whether their actions are effective or not, not only because follow-up systems do not give an overview of the situation, but also because commitments themselves are hard to measure. “Communication and follow-up of commitments therefore need to be enhanced,” concludes the report.

These discussions will provide input for the Commission’s mid-term progress report on the strategy for Europe on nutrition, overweight and obesity-related health issues, which will be published in December 2010.

The report is available at www.europolitics.info > Search = 276693