Resolution of the Council and of the representatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council of 3 December 1990 concerning an action programme on nutrition and health
Date: 1990-12-03
Institutions: Council of the European Union, Representatives of the Governments of the Member States
Subjects: European symbol, dissemination of information, eating habits, nutrition, public health













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41990X1231

Resolution of the Council and of the representatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council of 3 December 1990 concerning an action programme on nutrition and health  


Official Journal C 329 , 31/12/1990 P. 0001 - 0003 





RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL AND OF THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE  GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER STATES, MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL  of 3 December 1990  concerning an  action programme on nutrition and health  (90/C  329/01) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES AND THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN  ECONOMIC COMMUNITY, MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL,  Having regard to the Treaty establishing the  European Economic Community,  Considering that proper, balanced eating habits, combined with other  factors, efficiently prevent a series of diseases which are currently the main causes of death and  morbidity in Europe;  Considering that, although the nutritional situation varies greatly between  different Community Member States, between different regions of one and the same State and between  different groups of people in the same region, there are still problems linked with both excessive  consumption of food and imbalances in the intake of the various nutrients;  Considering the  importance of looking at nutritional aspects in relation to various physiological states such as  those peculiar to pregnant women, nursing mothers, children, adolescents and the elderly;   Considering that access to sufficient quantities of healthy food is a determining factor for human  health;  Considering the existing high level of protection as regards the wholesomeness of food and  drink and the general availability of good-quality food on the Community market;  Considering that  the Community has dealt on various occasions with nutritional problems and related measures in  sectoral contexts, such as the fight against cancer (resolution of 7 July 1986  (1), Decision of 21  June 1988  (2) and Decision of 17 May 1990  (3) or alcohol abuse and the problems of young people  (resolution of 29 May 1986  (4) and conclusions of 17 May 1990) or health education (resolution of  23 November 1988  (5)), but has not given overall consideration to aspects of nutritional education  and consumer information taken as a whole with the aim of promoting eating habits in keeping with  individual needs;  Considering that, on the basis of the above, it is clearly important to find  more effective ways of providing all Community citizens with the vital knowledge and education  which will enable them, within the framework of their lifestyle, to make the necessary choices for  ensuring appropriate nutrition in keeping with individual needs;  Considering that these advances  require active support not only from governments and parliaments but also from society as a whole;   Considering that it is important to organize and promote a programme of events and activities aimed  primarily at increasing public awareness of the role of a proper diet in maintaining health,   Invite the Commission to submit to the Council a proposal for an action programme, together with  the budget proposals necessary under the usual procedures,    which provides in particular that  1994 will be 'European Nutrition Year`. When drafting this programme, the Commission is invited to  use as a basis the aims and guidelines set out in the Annex.  Invite the competent authorities in  the Member States to take appropriate measures, on the basis of any decisions taken by the Council,  to carry out the programme, and to set up the necessary coordination arrangements.  Recommend that  Community activities in this sector be conducted while taking into account the activities of the  WHO and FAO and, as far as possible, in cooperation with them.  Invite the Commission to call  meetings of senior officials appointed by the competent national authorities on a regular basis at  least every two years from 1992 onwards to evaluate progress in the programmes on nutritional  education and consumer information.  Ask the Commission to keep the Council regularly informed of  progress and to submit a final report to the Council on the work done. (1)  OJ No C 184,  23. 7. 1986, p. 19.  (2)  OJ No L 160, 28. 6. 1988, p. 52.  (3)  OJ No L 137, 30. 5. 1990, p. 31.  (4)  OJ No C 184, 23. 7. 1986, p. 3.  (5)  OJ No C 3, 5. 1. 1989, p. 1. ANNEX  OBJECTIVES AND GUIDELINES FOR THE ACTION PROGRAMME ON NUTRITION AND HEALTH  1.   OBJECTIVES  The objectives of the action programme are: (a)  to disseminate knowledge about the  decisive role for health and well-being of a correct diet in relation to various diseases and risk  factors; (b)to disseminate knowledge about the serious public health problems and social evils  associated with alcohol abuse; (c)to prepare and disseminate information and recommendations  promoting eating habits which, while reflecting each community's own traditions and habits, help to  promote good health and enable everyone to adopt eating habits suited to his/her personal  physiology; (d)to promote consumer understanding of the type of information given on labels for  general and nutritional purposes and of the ways in which such information can be used to protect  one's health; (e)to foster awareness among those concerned of the need to observe the rules of  hygiene throughout the various stages of the food cycle, i.e. during agricultural and industrial  production, storage, transport, wholesale and retail sale and the preparation of food in the home;  (f)to encourage to a greater extent consideration of nutritional and health aspects in the measures  in the various relevant sectors of the Community and its Member States; (g)to promote studies and  investigations, in close coordination with the Community medical research programme, including  epidemiological research, into the relationships between nutrition and disease or risk factors and  the best ways of protecting health and preventing disease by means of a sensible and balanced diet;  (h)to disseminate knowledge about the important results which European policies in the nutrition  sector have obtained to date.    2.  MEASURES TO BE TAKEN  From a Community angle, and in order to  achieve the objectives set out in Section 1, the Community and the Member States, according to  their respective competences will take the following measures, acting in close cooperation: (a)   European Nutrition Year Decision to declare and implement a European Nutrition Year, in 1994.   (b)General measures to heighten awareness Activities focused on a limited number of aspects geared  to different sectors of society, particularly to schools and scientific and industrial circles and  mass catering as well as to typically national, regional or local aspects. Such activities will  include, amongst others, information programmes via television, radio and the press as well as  conferences and the distribution of educational and informative material and, possibly, prizes.   (c)Pilot projects on nutrition Ad hoc projects aimed at improving the nutritional standards of  select groups of people at risk and the nutritional quality of food and at assessing the levels  currently achieved in the Community. Such projects will be directed, inter alia, at the methods of  disseminating such knowledge.  (d)Research and studies Research and studies on nutrition and health  and in particular on: -  factors affecting choice of food by consumers and the effect of foods on  metabolic rates, -the consequences of changes in eating habits, -the consequences of rapid changes  in methods of food manufacture, preservation and distribution, -the formulation of information for  consumers, -studies on eating habits in the various regions of the Community.  (e)Work of the  Scientific Committee for Food Stepping up and diversifying the work of the Scientific Committee for  Food in the nutritional field and, if need be, examination of setting up a Scientific Committee for  Nutrition, attached to the Commission.