Childhood obesity : a priority area of the Maltese presidency of the Council of the European Union

Abstract

The magnitude of childhood obesity has reached alarming levels. Approximately, 40% of the global population suffers from overweight or obesity. The EU Action Plan on Childhood Obesity 2014-2020 has an overarching goal to halt the rise in overweight and obesity in children and young people by 2020. Notwithstanding the various actions at both EU and national levels, the problem of overweight and obesity remains high. Urgent action needs to be stepped up. Towards this end the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the European Union placed childhood obesity as one of its priority areas. During its Presidency, a midterm evaluation on the EU Action Plan on Childhood Obesity 2014-2020 was carried out in order to derive with a status update on the extent of implementation by each Member State in the eight policy areas identified within the said Action Plan. The presidency output also focused on the development of food procurement guidelines in schools in order to facilitate the procurement of food for health. To this effect, the presidency produced a technical report elaborating on public procurement guidelines of food for health within school settings. This provides a useful tool for member states when issuing procurement tenders for food in schools. Progressive and targeted public procurement of food for health can reward food business operators who provide nutritionally balanced meals and food products, prompting innovation, food reformulation and social responsibility to achieve better diets and positively impact public health. In addition, with a view to stepping actions to end the childhood obesity epidemic health ministers adopted Council Conclusions on halting the rise in childhood overweight and obesity. The Council Conclusions call upon Member States to integrate in their national action plans and strategies cross-sectoral measures, enabling environments that encourage healthy diets and adequate health-enhancing physical activity amongst others. The scale and consequences of childhood obesity demand bold and urgent actions. Collaborative actions between European Member States and intersectoral concerted actions at national level are required to tackle the burden of childhood obesity.