Council Resolution of 14 December 2000 on health and nutrition
Date: 2000-12-14
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU Member State, food policy, health policy, nutrition, public health

23.1.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 20/1

I

(Information)

COUNCIL

COUNCIL RESOLUTION

of 14 December 2000

on health and nutrition

(2001/C 20/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

(1) NOTES that the citizens of the European Union attach
to be an
importance to health, and consider it

great
essential part of the quality of life.

(2) RECALLS

the Resolution of 3 December 1990 (1)
concerning an action programme on nutrition and
health, the objectives of which are still generally valid,
as well as the conclusions of 15 May 1992 (2).

(8) NOTES that knowledge of the nutritional situation with
regard to food intake and dietary habits varies not only
from one Member State to another but also within the
Member States.

(9) NOTES the changes in the various diets and food cultures
in the European Union and the increasing importance of
mass catering and pe-prepared foods in particular.

(3) EMPHASISES once again the importance of nutrition as
one of the key determinants of human health and notes
that the state of health of the population can therefore be
protected and improved by targeting action on nutrition.

(10) NOTES that despite the progress which has been made in
the field of nutritional information and labelling there is
still not a sufficient guarantee of reliable, consistent and
accessible information on the nutritional characteristics of
foodstuffs and on the nutritional quality of diets.

(4) STATES that scientific work has clearly shown that an
combined with inadequate physical
unhealthy diet,
activity, is one of the main avoidable risk factors for the
development of cardiovascular diseases (cid:151) which are one
of the main causes of death in the European Union; that it
has also been demonstrated that an unbalanced diet
encourages the development of other serious conditions,
osteoporosis,
such
types
non-hereditary diabetes and some pathological
forms
associated with specific nutrient deficiencies.

cancer,

certain

of

as

(5)

IS CONCERNED by the consequences of the increase in
obesity
European Union,
particularly among children and adolescents.

overweight

in the

and

(6) NOTES that, despite the remarkable progress in the eating
and dietary habits of the people of the European Union,
the population is still at risk of nutrition-related health
such as children,
problems and that certain groups,
adolescents,
the elderly and the poor, continue to be
more exposed to the consequences of a poor diet.

(7) EMPHASISES that poor nutrition leads to higher social and

health costs for Member States.

(11) CONSIDERS that the diversity of food cultures throughout
the European Union constitutes a valuable asset
that
ought to be respected, and that it is necessary to take
this into account when drawing up and implementing
nutritional health policies, which must
therefore be
defined first of all at national level.

(12) EMPHASISES, however,

that many Community policies,
particularly in the fields of public health, agriculture,
transport, consumer protection and
fisheries, research,
the internal market, have such an impact
those
national nutritional policies can have full effect only if
relating to nutritional health are taken into
aspects
account
the
in the drafting and implementation of
Community policies concerned.

that

(13) NOTES that action to improve the availability of and
access to healthy food as well as information about
healthy diet are important components of nutrition
policy.

(1) OJ C 329, 31.12.1990, p. 1.
(2) OJ C 148, 12.6.1992, p. 2.

(14) CONSIDERS that action on nutritional health must be
given an adequate place in the future Community action
programme on public health.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

23.1.2001

(15) CONSIDERS that if a health and nutrition policy is to be
effective it must be based,
inter alia, on exchanges of
experience and information as well as on cooperation
and training of all the parties concerned, including nutri-
sector,
in the
tional health professionals, operators
consumers and non-governmental organisations.

(16)

INVITES Member States, within the context of
national nutritional health policies, to:

their

(i) set the population, from early childhood on, in better
stead to make informed food choices by promoting
healthy attitudes and eating and dietary habits and by
providing relevant information;

(ii) involve all parties concerned in the discussion and

promotion of nutritional health;

(iii) continue to develop the production, dissemination

and implementation of nutritional health;

(iv) improve

the

nutritional

health
professionals and those working in the field of
foods and nutrition;

knowledge

of

(v) participate actively in the data collection networks on
nutrition and physical activity in the Community;

(vi) encourage

national

in
experts
Community activities, and in particular to produce
scientific evidence.

participate

to

(17) NOTES that

in its White Paper on food safety the
Commission envisages inter alia the establishment of a
global, consistent nutrition policy, as well as the presen-
tation of an action plan on nutrition and recommen-
dations for dietary guidelines.

(18)

INVITES the Commission to study ways of promoting
better nutrition within the European Union, if necessary
presenting appropriate proposals
and
particularly to:

to that

end,

(i) allow for nutritional health to be taken into account
when drawing up and implementing any relevant
for
and
Community

develop

policies

tools

assessing the impact of other Community policies
on nutritional health;

(ii) continue to develop tools to monitor nutritional
health and its determinants, drawing on existing
tools in use by Member States, in order to obtain
comparable data, and ensure regular assessment of
this data, complementing work by Member States;

(iii) support

exchanges
experience in the area of health and nutrition;

promote

regular

and

of

(iv) facilitate the development of scientific evidence in
the area of nutritional health by experts in this
field,
in particular to provide backing for and to
update national or local dietary guidelines and the
information given to consumers;

(v) support research into the links between health and
nutrition,
into an under-
into diet-related diseases,
standing of eating and dietary habits and into the
impact of policies on health and nutrition;

(vi) facilitate the exchange of information on nutrition-

related training courses and professions;

(vii) develop the use of nutritional labelling, by adapting
it to the needs of consumers, and of other means of
providing nutritional information;

(viii) examine the possibility of conducting projects to
promote diets, which could include subjects as
diverse as fruit and vegetable consumption and
breastfeeding;

(ix) consider the use of new information technologies to
improve the information available to those involved
in this sector, and also to the public;

(x) plan follow-up to nutrition activities.

19.

INVITES the Commission to continue to cooperate with
the relevant international organisations, in particular the
WHO, to ensure effective coordination of activities and
avoid any duplication.