TY - JOUR
T1 - Improving the food environment in kindergartens and schools: An overview of policies and policy opportunities in Europe
AU - Kovacs, V.A.
AU - Messing, Sven
AU - Sandu, P.
AU - Nardone, P.
AU - Pizzi, E.
AU - Hassapidou, M.
AU - Brukalo, K.
AU - Tecklenburg, E.
AU - Abu-Omar, K.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2020/10
Y1 - 2020/10
N2 - Childhood obesity and unhealthy nutrition are high on the European policy agenda because of their association with chronic diseases and due to the related social and economic burden. In 2014, the EU Action Plan on Childhood Obesity 2014–2020 was launched with an overarching goal to halt the rise of overweight and obesity in children by the year 2020. To facilitate the implementation of the Action Plan, the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission provided support to bring together 25 Member States plus Norway for a Joint Action on Nutrition and Physical Activity (JANPA). The current paper is based on the results of JANPA and presents the explored policy options to improve children's nutrition by targeting the food environment in and around kindergartens and schools. We conclude that for effective actions countries need to combine various mutually reinforcing policies in parallel, including the provision of healthy foods, lowering the availability of unhealthy foods, restricting marketing, and promoting education. Success will depend on the coherence of messages and on the engagement of a wide range of stakeholders and sectors. Evaluation should be carefully designed, using indicators of progress towards the goal of improving diet and reducing obesity in children.
AB - Childhood obesity and unhealthy nutrition are high on the European policy agenda because of their association with chronic diseases and due to the related social and economic burden. In 2014, the EU Action Plan on Childhood Obesity 2014–2020 was launched with an overarching goal to halt the rise of overweight and obesity in children by the year 2020. To facilitate the implementation of the Action Plan, the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission provided support to bring together 25 Member States plus Norway for a Joint Action on Nutrition and Physical Activity (JANPA). The current paper is based on the results of JANPA and presents the explored policy options to improve children's nutrition by targeting the food environment in and around kindergartens and schools. We conclude that for effective actions countries need to combine various mutually reinforcing policies in parallel, including the provision of healthy foods, lowering the availability of unhealthy foods, restricting marketing, and promoting education. Success will depend on the coherence of messages and on the engagement of a wide range of stakeholders and sectors. Evaluation should be carefully designed, using indicators of progress towards the goal of improving diet and reducing obesity in children.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85081231743&partnerID=MN8TOARS
U2 - 10.1016/j.foodpol.2020.101848
DO - 10.1016/j.foodpol.2020.101848
M3 - Article
SN - 0306-9192
VL - 96
JO - Food Policy
JF - Food Policy
M1 - 101848
ER -