EU4Nutrition Nutritional Care Policy Summit calls for new science-based practices

07 Jun 2024 --- This year’s edition of the annual conference organized by Optimal Nutrition Care for All (ONCA), an initiative including 21 European countries made possible by the Netherlands-based European Nutrition for Health Alliance (ENHA), explores ways to “bridging the gap between nutrition science and effective policies.”

Speaking at the ongoing event taking place in Turin, Italy, on June 6 and 7, Olle Ljungqvist, chair of ENHA, states: “We are here to discuss how to translate nutritional care science into policies, and this is what ONCA has been doing since its inception (in 2014) and now, as we welcome our 21st member — Norway.”

“We produced the ENHA Manifesto, which is a new mandate of the EU, and we are working with politicians and institutes to meet our goals, and with all of this, we strive to keep collaboration with the patient at the core. We are accelerating implementation, and I’d like to point out there is an EU4Health national implementation fund you can apply to receive support to implement new practices in nutritional health care.”

Nutrition Insight attended the first session of the summit titled “Malnutrition: From awareness to control” Speakers included Andrea Pezzana, coordinator of the Piedmont Clinical Nutrition network, Laura del Campo of the Italian oncology association FAVO, Ugo Della Marta of the directorate for Hygiene, Food Safety and Nutrition of the Italian Ministry of Health and Francesco Branca, director of the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety at the WHO. 

Increasing malnutrition prevalence 
Pezzana opened the session by bringing light to current topics in “implementing nutritional care for optimal health,” including malnutrition, the “one health approach,” ongoing transformations, considering global, local and personal perspectives, learning from tradition and adopting innovation. 

“Malnutrition is a condition that is said to affect 33 million people in Europe, and this is an underestimation. The problem is also increasing. Millions of people in Europe are not receiving the adequate care that they need. A key issue is the ‘hidden hunger’ or micronutrient deficiencies. The consequences for the prevention and treatment of chronic disease are very strong.”

Olle Ljungqvist, chair of ENHA, at the EU4Nutrition Nutritional Care Policy Summit 2024.FAVO’s Del Campo continued the conversation by discussing “Empowering health through nutritional care: A patient-centric journey of progress.” She highlights challenges of cancer patient associations, such as information and communication, disparities, rehabilitation (including nutrition), parenthood after cancer, rights of patients and caregivers, and the right to be forgotten. This last initiative focuses on securing equal treatment and non-discrimination in financial services for cancer survivors.

“In Italy, there are currently 3.7 million living with a cancer diagnosis. Of these, 20% are not overcoming the disease due to the severe consequences of malnutrition.”

She further emphasizes the significance of pain therapy and palliative care, rare cancers, neglected tumors, follow-ups for survivors, life after cancer and further research.

Global disease burdens
The WHO’s Branca presented “Global insights into disease-related malnutrition: understanding the worldwide impact.” He states that “unhealthy diet and malnutrition are in the top ten risk factors for the global disease burden.”

The essential nutritional actions in primary health care he points to are diagnostics (growth monitoring and screening for obesity), the management of nutrition disorders (wasting, low birth weight infants obesity, vitamin and mineral deficiencies), counseling on breastfeeding and healthy diets, breastfeeding support and prevention campaigns that provide vitamin A, iron and folic acid supplements. 

“In 2013, 33–49% of the world’s population did not have full coverage of essential health services,” points out Branca. “Even in Europe, obesity is often not treated in primary care and is only diagnosed when other health issues become apparent. Doctors say that they don’t have enough time or resources and often they are not properly trained.”

Addressing weight stigma 
Branca highlights actions the WHO has taken to address medical discrimination against obese and overweight people, which he notes is a key issue in healthcare. He tells Nutrition Insight: “There is a global effort led by the World Obesity Federation, founded by the WHO, on improving communication about obesity.”

“First of all, we use people-first language; we don’t say ‘obese people,’ we say ‘people living with obesity.’ We are trying to take away the burden and the responsibility from the people living with obesity. It’s an environmental issue. It’s often related to their inability to live healthy lives, access healthy food and be active.”

Francesco Branca, director of the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety at the WHO. Branca adds: “Then what we have to do is speak to the patients. (Medical practitioners) are the ones who should welcome people living with obesity without stigmatizing the condition and actually encourage them and guide them to recovery.”

Obesity and overweight
Della Marta from the Italian Ministry of Health introduced the topic  “Getting a grip on nutritional care at a national level.” He highlights the “paradoxical” problem of overweight and obesity in the European Mediterranean region despite the known health benefits of the Mediterranean diet.

“According to WHO surveillance in the region, the countries in this region show the highest prevalence of childhood obesity and overweight among the participating countries, ranging from 38 to 47%,” Della Marta describes.

“Our task as an institution is the definition of strategies and programs to support the application of evidence-based preventive strategies with a specific focus on a healthy diet.” 

He asserts the importance of education in school-age children, pointing out that Italian schools have to participate in co-working with the National Institute of Health, while Italian schools abroad cooperate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs “with the aim to cross national borders. The Est Diem project highlights the Mediterranean diet as a model of traditional, healthy and sustainable diet and can aid the prevention of chronic non-communicable diseases.”

By Milana Nikolova