On 6 December 2017, the “Breakfast is Best” coalition, of which CEEREAL is a member, will launch its comprehensive report, The Importance of Breakfast in Europe: A Review of National Policies and Health Campaigns on the occasion of a EURACTIV Stakeholder Workshop entitled “Promotion of healthy diets in the EU: What role for breakfast?”

The Importance of Breakfast in Europe: A Review of National Policies and Health Campaigns takes a unique look into the way governments communicate around and promote consumption of breakfast in 16 European countries and is the result of work conducted by the Breakfast is Best campaign – which includes, alongside CEEREAL, the European Medical Association (EMA), the European Federation of the Associations of Dietitians (EFAD) and the European Club of Paediatric Dietitians/le Club Européen des Diététiciens de l’Enfance (CEDE) – and Professor Louise Dye, an expert on nutrition and behaviour at the University of Leeds.

The review examines what health ministries and agencies say about breakfast, whether they actively promote breakfast consumption in health campaigns aimed particularly at children and adolescents, and the clarity and accessibility of the material used to do so. In addressing the information gaps in Europe on the importance of breakfast, the report celebrates the countries that are actively promoting the consumption of breakfast while at the same time drawing attention to the gaps that exist from country to country. The report compares these findings to breakfast consumption figures, drawing on data from the latest “Health Behaviour in School-aged Children” (HBSC) study published in 2016 by the World Health Organization (WHO) 1. Breakfast is Best ultimately aims to work towards achieving the inclusion of breakfast consumption as a key health recommendation across the European Union, and this report is a first step towards this.

The full report can be found here can be found here, and the Executive Summary here.

The EURACTIV Stakeholder Workshop entitled “Promotion of healthy diets in the EU: What role for breakfast?” will take place on 6 December 2017 from 8:30-10:30 at the EURACTIV Network Office, Boulevard Charlemagne 1, 1040 Brussels. Coinciding with the publication of The Importance of Breakfast in Europe report, the workshop will discuss how to tackle the nutrition agenda at both EU and national level and explore the report’s findings. . On the occasion of this event, EURACTIV has produced an infographic incorporating some findings from the report.

Discussion topics include:

  • How can we engage decision-makers to promote breakfast as part of a balanced lifestyle?
  • How is healthy nutrition being promoted across the EU Member States?
  • Have current national campaigns and policies achieved their goals?
  • What are the best practices on healthy nutrition promotion among EU Member States?
  • What kind of communication tools can be leveraged to improve nutrition knowledge and practices?

Discussion contributors:

Ciarán Nicholl, Head of the Health in Society Unit at the Health, Consumers and Reference Materials Directorate, Joint Research Centre, European Commission
Emma Calvert, Food Policy Officer, The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC)
Louise Dye, Professor and N8 AgriFood Chair in Nutrition and Behaviour, University of Leeds
Milka Sokolović, Head of Food & Health Science, European Food Information Council (EUFIC)

For more information on the Stakeholder Workshop please visit http://events.euractiv.com/event/info/promotion-of-healthy-diets-in-the-eu-what-role-for-breakfast

(1) Inchley J et al., eds. Growing up unequal: gender and socioeconomic differences in young people’s health and well-being. Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study: international report from the 2013/2014 survey. Copenhagen, WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2016 (Health Policy for Children and Adolescents, No. 7). Available from: http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/303438/HSBC-No.7-Growing-up-unequal-Full-Report.pdf.