Comparative analysis of nutrition policies in WHO European Member States

The aim of the International Conference on Nutrition (ICN) held in 1992 was to create a momentum for increasing the focus on nutrition-related activities throughout the world. Nutritional status is one of the best indicators of the welfare of individuals and, in turn, of societies. The ICN brought together all sectors involved in nutrition and was intended to be one event in the whole process of alleviating nutritional problems worldwide. The World Declaration and Plan of Action for Nutrition adopted at the ICN were subsequently endorsed in their entirety at the Forty-Sixth World Health Assembly in 1993 (resolution WHA46.7). Since then, the action-oriented strategies delineated in the Declaration and Plan of Action have served as a platform for technical support to Member States provided by the WHO Global and Regional Programme of Nutrition. These strategies provide a framework and a guide for countries to develop food and nutrition policies and strengthen their national plans of action for promoting nutritional wellbeing. Since the ICN in 1992, several regional and sub-regional meetings have taken place in order to measure progress towards the development and implementation of national nutrition policies and plans of action. An ICN Follow-up Consultation for the WHO European Region was held in Poland in 1996 and this document is based on the 35 country reports received. This document aims to provide a comparative analysis of the situation in 1996 as well as a base-line analysis to assess future developments in national policies and plans of action. Conclusions and recommendations are also included. For the purposes of this report, Member States have been grouped into 8 geographic regions: Balkan, Baltic, Central Asia Republics (CAR), countries of central and eastern Europe (CCEE), western Europe, southern Europe, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Nordic countries. Data are presented in tables under the headings of the nine action-oriented strategies of the Plan of Action for Nutrition adopted at the ICN