Comprehensive evaluation report of EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity & Health released

An evaluation of the EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity & Health was released, and highlights the five year achievements of the novel multi-stakeholder Platform, recognising the need to step up the fight against European obesity. 

Five years ago, the European Commission created the EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity & Health, which brought together a variety of concerned stakeholders and challenged them to respond to the rising tide of obesity in Europe.

The approach combining multiple stakeholders provides a forum for European organisations to commit to tackling disturbing trends in European consumers' diet and physical activity. Public health NGOs, consumer and physical fitness groups, the food, drink and catering industries, and a number of Member States comprise the 32 Platform members, together with observers from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and EFSA (the European Food Safety Authority).

A comprehensive evaluation report of the Platform was carried out by the Evaluation Partnership on behalf of the Public Health Evaluation and Impact Assessment Consortium (PHEIAC). The report highlights achievements and challenges over the past five years, and says it is "too early to judge whether the Platform has managed to contain or reverse the trend of sustained, EU-wide increase in overweight and obesity."

Constructive steps in the right direction

Dialogue
"Engaging dialogue is one of the main achievements of the Platform. It is an innovative process that has brought together actors with very different interests who were previously often antagonistic towards each other," highlights the evaluation.

81% of Platform members note an increased understanding among a broad range of sectors "providing a good basis for facilitating a cross-sectoral approach to the issue of obesity." However, the report says "Enhanced understanding has not necessarily translated into greater trust," as demonstrated by a lack of joint actions among members. Nevertheless, the evaluators applaud the Platform for a "dialogue that has become more constructive and less confrontational over the years." As Dr. Josephine Wills, Director General of the European Food Information Council, and a member of the Steering Committee for the evaluation of the Platform, notes, "All Platform members are united over a concern with obesity. Despite measurable differences in the value of member commitments, there are considerable outputs worth highlighting."

Action
"One key characteristic that differentiates the platform from other multi-stakeholder forums is the focus on action," asserts the evaluation report's authors.

Almost 300 commitments for action have been tabled since 2005, yet the scope, relevance and proportionality of such commitments remain challenges. Although critics point out a resource imbalance among non-profit and for-profit stakeholders, the evaluation nevertheless points to "numerous examples where the Platform process has added value and led to actions that would otherwise not have happened, at least not at the same level of ambition, coverage, and timeliness."

Impact
The evaluation report looks at case studies on the Platform members' commitments for action in two key areas. In advertising and marketing to children, the evaluators report that within the parameters of the commitments made by industry, "self-regulation in this area has been very effective at limiting the exposure of children to adverts for high fat, sugar and salt foods." In food and drink reformulation, the number of products and recipes that have been reformulated to reduce levels of nutrients such as salt or saturated fat, "is significant." Reductions in nutrients in given products have ranged between 5% and 80%, with most reductions "turning around the 25% to 50% mark."

Additionally, evaluators highlight that the Platform has inspired the development of national platforms in several member states, such as Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal and The Netherlands - which have tailored Platform objectives to more local goals.

However, the Platform may have limited impact on EU policy with "neither not-for-profit nor industry members sure as to whether their actions are contributing to reducing obesity or not." Evaluators site a lack of baseline measurements and insufficient communications as main reasons for the limited policy impacts.

Criticism & Challenges

Key challenges remain for the Platform. Communication and monitoring of commitments need significant improvement. In addition, it remains difficult to measure long-term health impacts, and monitoring processes remains a contentious issue among Platform stakeholders. The evaluation recommends that "the Commission act as a mediator among different views" and encourages members to act more in concert to increase mutual understanding.

Next Steps

The European Commission, and specifically the Directorate-General Health and Consumers (DG SANCO), will now consider the content of the evaluation and next steps for the Platform will be discussed in future meetings of the Platform. DG SANCO says "These discussions will provide valuable input into the Commission's mid-term progress report on the 2007-2013 Strategy for Europe on Nutrition, Overweight and Obesity-related health issues, which will be published in December 2010."