European trade body Freshfel Europe chose Europe Obesity Day on Saturday to insist that preventing obesity starts with increasing fruit and vegetable consumption.

The organisation said that encouraging better diets and more physical activity are the most promising ways to fight against the obesity epidemic.

Philippe Binard, Freshfel delegate-general, said: “It is conventional wisdom that the root of the problem is the combination of increasing calorie intake coupled with decreasing levels of physical activity and a more sedentary way of life. Encouraging better diets and more physical activity are therefore the most promising ways to ease the situation. A diet rich in fruit and vegetables is the ideal start in preventing obesity. Unfortunately, the consumption of fresh produce is at best stagnating and is in many member states well below the minimum WHO recommendation of eating at least 400g of fruit and vegetables a day.”

In most countries of the EU, more than half of the adult population is overweight or obese, with figures rising to 60 per cent among people aged 50-70 years. The European-wide public awareness day aims to drive actions at a European level to address the epidemic of obesity.

Freshfel Europe is active at a European level to foster initiatives that aim to increase consumption of fruit and vegetables with a call to build up an ambitious European strategy to reduce inequalities in fruit and vegetable consumption, in particular in low income populations and among the young.

Ramon Rey, president of Freshfel Europe, said: “It is of paramount importance that actions are undertaken at an EU level, as much remains to be done. The European institutions should be much more active in disseminating information on the health benefits of fruit and vegetables. In addition, any initiative in this field will be only successful if it is accompanied by convincing and comprehensive communication activities.”

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