Nutrition – a public and private priority
Nutrition is a public health priority. Obesity is on the rise everywhere. France is no exception, but it is nonetheless the European country in which the phenomenon is developing the most slowly. Indeed, alongside the Netherlands and Sweden, France is the country in which the prevalence of child obesity is lowest. Several factors – eating habits, a number of public awareness campaigns, product composition and others – contribute to this.
Consumer education and information
Food and beverage companies are boosting their efforts to provide the nutritional composition of their products via voluntary labelling with standard quantities (by portion and as a percentage of recommended daily intakes).
The example of the 1st nutritional commitment contract
In an accord signed with the French State, a vegetable fats producer committed to reducing the total lipid content of 2/3 of its products by 10% and the saturated fatty acid content by 5% before the end of 2009. The company also promised to maintain its Omega 3 fatty acid content in all new products.
Highly involved public authorities
Thanks to strong mobilisation by its public authorities, France set up a National health and nutrition programme (PNNS) in 2001 to improve the health of the entire population by focusing on one of its major determinants, nutrition. It features a full action plan including managing cases of obesity, specifically targeting underprivileged and at-risk populations and promoting good nutritional habits and a balanced, healthy lifestyle.
By mobilizing all of the key players – healthcare professionals, of course, as well as the food and beverage industry, non-profit organisations and local authorities – France is thus the first European country with such a comprehensive strategy.
Highly committed firms
Aware of the rise in obesity and concerned with the health of consumers, agri-food companies play a key role in this new fight. Their action to improve the food sold in stores is formalised via official commitments assessed by the National observatory for food quality (OQALI). These commitments take the form of contracts to improve nutrition signed with the French State. Through this determined course of action, it sets precise, quantifiable, measurable targets with specific deadlines that aim to reduce salt, simple carbohydrates, total lipids, saturated fatty acids, and increase consumption of complex carbohydrates, fibres, fruits and vegetables.
These campaigns, run by the French State in cooperation with the country’s agri-food firms, aim to encourage healthier eating habits and curb the rise of obesity and related diseases. In 2006, less than 13% of French adults were obese (BMI>30) compared to 30% in the United States. The typical French diet, based on three meals per day, has certainly contributed to these results.
Sources: Roche/TNS Sofres, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention