According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the prevalence of obesity has more than trebled in many European countries since the 1980s. People consume more calories per day, in particular from fat, whereas their physical activity levels have gone down. According to a recent Eurobarometer survey on Europeans' physical-activity habits, only 15% are active in sports and an average EU citizen spends more than six hours per day seated.
Child obesity is of particular concern as eating habits and levels of physical exercise are often adopted very early and tend to persist throughout life. Therefore, obese young tend to become obese adults, with all the health risks this condition represents: heart disease, type-two diabetes, hypertension, strokes and certain types of cancer. According to the Commission, some 3,000,000 European schoolchildren are obese and some 85,000 more children become obese every year. Obesity-related illnesses are estimated to account for as much as 7% of total healthcare costs in the EU.
To tackle what it called an 'epidemic', the European Commission set up an EU platform for action on diet, physical activity and health. Since March 2005, the platform brings together industry, consumer groups and health experts to find ways to combat obesity. Its emphasis is on self-regulation and voluntary commitments from stakeholders (food industry, health NGOs).
In December 2005, the Commission put forward a Green Paper on obesity, inviting stakeholders from the business world, academics and NGOs to put forward policy recommendations.
In the World Health Organisation (WHO) European Ministerial conference on counteracting obesity in November 2006, the health ministers signed the European Charter pledging to place obesity high up on the European public health and political agendas and to halt the rise in obesity by 2015.
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