WHO to crusade against obesity, for better nutrition

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -- Faced with alarming growth in diseases linked to diet, notably cancer, heart trouble and obesity, the World Health Organization vowed Wednesday to crusade for better nutrition and greater food safety in Europe.

World Health Organization (WHO) data show Europe has the highest prevalence of obesity in the world. Each year some 130 million people suffer food-related disease and 50 percent of the population in some countries is overweight.

Up to 40 percent of cancers could be prevented by better diet, the WHO said.

"We are all what we eat and it is important to remember that," Jeremy Metters, a doctor from Britain's Health Department, told a news conference.

One third of cardiovascular disease, the main cause of death in Europe, is related to unbalanced nutrition. Obesity care makes up about seven percent of the total health care budget.

"There are different problems in the east and west of the region. In the east of Europe, we still have problems with malnutrition, in the West there are problems with overnutrition and unhealthy nutrition," Metters said

He stressed the need for new food strategies to ensure optimal health, especially in low-income groups and during critical periods in life such as infancy, pregnancy and lactation, and old age.

The WHO action plan calls for a food and nutrition task force for Europe to coordinate food safety policy and guidelines for nutrition programs. The plan also embraces closer cooperation between agriculture and the food industry.

The WHO said there was a need to monitor genetically modified food products and crops but that tests carried out in Italy recently showed all genetically engineered food on the market at present was safe.

"GMO foods could provide food to populations short of food," said WHO nutrition adviser Marco Jermini.

"We need to investigate new foods not only for ethical reasons but also for unexpected aspects."

WHO Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland, who hosted the 50-nation food safety and nutrition session at the WHO's European regional headquarters in Denmark, said:

"Given the new dimensions in trade and the development of technologies, changes in the food chain and the increased dangers involved to human health, we have to gather the evidence, share the knowledge and help public health efforts worldwide."

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