Food and health data. Their use in nutrition policy-making

You are what you eat. People are aware that their diet affects their health and many try to ensure that they eat healthily. But the nutritional well being of a nation also requires that decision-makers take health promotion into account when deciding on the population's food supply. Such nutrition policies are a relatively new phenomenon in Europe. To develop them effectively, policy-makers need to know not only what people ought to be eating, but also what they are actually eating. What do people eat, and who eats what? Food balance sheets, household budget surveys and individual-level studies all provide data on the dietary pattens of populations. This book makes a critical assessment of these data sources, examining what each can (and cannot) tell us and how they should be used. Nutrition policies require an inter sectorial approach, based on an awareness that all sectors have a potential effect on health. This book will be a vital guide to all those who could and should contribute to people's nutritional well being: food producers and manufactures, officials in ministries of agriculture, industry, trade and health, and individuals in positions that entail decision-making on food such as caterers, hospital administrators, and food importers and retailers.