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National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands has prepared a 364 page report to the public health minister. Health consequences of smoking and poor diet are compared.
National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) has presented this 364 page report to the Dutch Minister of Public Health, Welfare and Sport of the Netherlands on september 1, 2004. It contains an extensive overview and critical analysis of the current scientific knowledge regarding the ‘healthy’ as well as the ‘safety’ aspects of diet and food in the Netherlands.
Diet and smoking compared using DALYs.
DALYs are Disability Adjusted Life Years: a summary measure which combines death and illness, using a disability weighing factor for the seriousness of the disease. The overall health loss caused by an unhealthy diet is comparable to that caused by smoking. Measured in DALYs, the annual health loss due to an unhealthy diet in The Netherlands is between 300,000 and 400,000. This figure includes 245,000 DALYs caused by the unfavourable dietary composition and an unknown proportion of the 215,000 DALYs due to overweight. In the case of smoking, the annual health loss is estimated to be just over 350,000 DALYs.
Focus on environmental change
An integrated strategy seems to offer the best potential for promoting healthier eating habits. Such a strategy must not only address the supply side, but also the consumer and his or her environment. There should therefore be a combination of pricing policy, legislation, guidelines for the catering industry, measures applying KEY MESSAGES MEASURING DUTCH MEALS to public places, health education and a shift in social norms. These measures should eventually lead to the ‘healthy choice’ becoming the ‘easy choice.’ An active approach on the part of government and the various societal organizations is called for.
Download the English summary here.
The full report is in Dutch and can be downloaded for free from:
www.rivm.nl/bibliotheek/rapporten/270555007.html. Later this year
(2005) the full report will also be available in a cover-to-cover translation into
English.
For more information please contact
Hans Verhagen,
Holland |
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