FAHRE
- Food and Health Research in Europe -
Analysis of gaps and overlaps for existing
food and health research needs in Europe
Thematic Expert Report
OBESITY
WORK PACKAGE
LEADS
AUTHORS
OBESITY
WP2. Research needs assessment
Mark Mccarthy (UCL) Lilia Ahrné (SIK)
Tim Lobstein and Andrea Aikenhead, IASO
1
Acknowledgement
This report forms part of the deliverables from a project called "FAHRE" which has received
funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013
under grant agreement n° 244459. The Community is not responsible for any use that might
be made of the content of this publication.
FAHRE aims to investigate how to improve the coordination of food and health research in
Europe. The project runs from January 2010 to December 2011, it involves seven partners and
is coordinated by Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovação (SPI). More information on the project
can be found at http://www.spi.pt/fahre or by contacting the project manager Rachel Newton
(rachelnewton@spi.pt).
This document has been developed by the partners for recording expert information only. It is
not an official publication from the project.
OBESITY
2
Foreword: some definitions for ‘food and health research’
‘Food and health research’ for this report refers to research about the production, marketing,
choice, regulation and policy for food as it affects health, and the mechanisms and control of
diet-related diseases, nutrition and obesity. It covers positive and negative impacts of food on
health as well as issues related to under and over consumption of food (undernutrition and
obesity). It draws on a wide range of disciplines including psychological, social, management
and political sciences, laboratory sciences, clinical medicine, environment and epidemiology,
and is undertaken by public, independent and industry organisations.
Programmes for food and health may be structured in different ways. In developing the
'thematic experts' side of FAHRE, we have identified 8 areas for experts, four broad 'fields' of
research, and compared these with three issues in Joint Programming Initiative 'Healthy Food
for a Health Life' Interim Report (March 2010). However, they form a continuum, with
overlaps. They are set out in the table below.
The analysis of the gaps and overlaps for the research fields in each area should consider all
the aspects relevant to supporting research in the area. It should examine how the needs of the
field can be met with regard to research commissioning, major equipment or technical
facilities, available technology tools, and expertise with particular attention to improving the
functioning of the field as a European Research Area. Thus it will analyse organisations
undertaking research or commissioning research, networks, training programmes, databases,
technical facilities and comment on their effectiveness in moving towards the ERA goals, in
particular for greater mobility, joint research infrastructures, knowledge-sharing, Joint
Programming and International Science & Technology Cooperation.
FAHRE Research FAHRE Country Report
thematic areas
Programme research fields
JPI interim report
Food production
and products
Diet and food production:
Establish reliable data on consumer food
preferences and acceptance in order to develop
new food products and to redesign how foods are
produced.
Enable redesign and optimisation of food
processing and packaging.
Foods must always be safe and should be
produced in a sustainable way.
Food safety
Regulation, claims,
and food policy for
health
Production field: design of food
(components…), its preparation
(processes…), its manufacturing
and also home cooking matters
linked to health and disease,
interface between industry and the
scientific sector.
Policy field: regulation (labeling,
salt, sugar and fat contents,
claims…) and consumers, which
will have an impact on diet and
Consumer
therefore on health. It could also
behaviour and what focus on programmes more
influences it
economically oriented, linked to
Lifestyle: Consumer behaviour and food choice
understanding of consumer behaviour with regard
to food and also to raise consumer understanding
of healthy foods and food consumption patterns.
Measuring food purchase and consumption
behaviour taking into account cultural
3
marketing, participation, public
expression and access.
differences, and subsequently, developing reliable
models of consumer choice processes.
Effective communication strategies with
consumers need to be developed to induce
behavioural change directed to improving
consumer health and social responsibility.
Population surveys
causes and control
Population field: at human and
Horizontal issues:
population level, epidemiologic
approaches (including biological,
Health policy for
social and psychological
food, nutrition, diet determinants) and observational and
and obesity
interventional research on
behaviours that can explain eating
disorders leading to chronic
diseases.
Food causing
disease – excess,
imbalance,
sensitivity
Nutrition microelements,
malnutrition, gene
interactions,
Biomedical field: nutrition and
dietary research relating to
molecular and clinical aspects, in the
pathways and causes of disease, and
the mechanisms at different periods
of the life course.
It could also include food safety,
both toxicology and biological.
Chronic diseases: preventing food-related,
chronic diseases and increasing the quality of life:
1) understanding of brain function in relation to
diet; 2) the effects of diet-gut interaction on
intestinal and immune functions;
3) the link between diet and metabolic function
(obesity and associated metabolic disorders).
4
Content
Introduction to the Expert´s Area: Obesity ................................................................................ 6

Research at European level in Obesity ............................................................................. 7
 Main programmes and projects relevant to Obesity .................................................... 7
 Infrastructures & equipment relevant to Obesity ......................................................... 8
 Major research groups relevant to Obesity .................................................................. 8
 Networks relevant to Obesity ....................................................................................... 9
 Current Training Programmes relevant to Obesity .................................................... 10

Publications & Congresses relevant to Obesity .............................................................. 11
 Publications ................................................................................................................ 11
 Congresses.................................................................................................................. 13

Comparison of country reports: obesity research ........................................................... 14
 Countries .................................................................................................................... 14
 Overview .................................................................................................................... 15

Towards 2020: assessing needs for obesity research ...................................................... 17
 Knowledge needs ....................................................................................................... 17
 Significant research questions .................................................................................... 17
 Ways to organise research: priorities, developing agendas ....................................... 17
 Interaction between public research and industry ...................................................... 18

Gaps and Overlaps for further research .......................................................................... 19
 Structures.................................................................................................................... 19
 Infrastructures ............................................................................................................ 19
5.3 Ways to organise research ............................................................................................. 20

Conclusions and Proposals ............................................................................................. 21
 Research fields ........................................................................................................... 21
 Research organisation, structures and infrastructures ................................................ 21
Annex: details of obesity research provided in the country reports (to be updated from the
revised country reports) ........................................................................................................ 22
5
Introduction to the Expert´s Area: Obesity
Obesity is a medical condition that raises the risk of many chronic diseases: it affects some 10% of children
and 20% of adults in the EU. The dramatic increase in the prevalence of obesity in the European population
(and among populations in most of the world) has led to a rapid growth in the research effort to understand the
condition and to find ways to prevent it.
Our current understanding is that obesity has multiple causal pathways which result in metabolic energy
imbalance, in which food energy is consumed in greater amounts than it is ‘burnt’ through physiological
metabolism and the excess energy is stored as body fat. Public-funded research investigations have considered
a very wide range of issues, including genetic predisposition, cellular and endocrinal functions, neural
pathways of appetite control, pharmacological intervention in energy balance, individual dietary patterns of
nutrient intake, social and cultural eating behaviour, clinical interventions and treatments, health promotion
campaigns, and national and international policies which may be considered ‘upstream’ influences on energy
balance – including food prices, food advertising, portion sizes, product labelling, but also including
agricultural policies, transport policies, the built environment and issues of social inequalities. In addition an
increase in monitoring and surveillance has been undertaken in order to understand the changing prevalence of
overweight and obesity in population groups, and also the patterns and trends in food consumption, physical
activity and sedentary behaviour.
Private sector funding of research has been directed towards potential market opportunities for obesity-related
products: these include pharmaceuticals, surgical equipment, slimming products, reformulated food products
and products able to carry health claims. Related concerns include the fashion and clothing industry and issues
of body image, especially among women but increasingly among men and among younger children.
The results of the research effort to date are (a) a failure to find an effective and acceptable pharmaceutical
intervention to treat or prevent obesity, (b) only weak evidence for effective interventions in the community to
change individual dietary behaviour or physical activity and (c) recognition that the successful reversal of the
obesity prevalence trends will require inter-sectoral action across many interlocking areas of human activity.
At the European regional level, various policy initiatives have been made in the last decade. Those that
concern food include two five-year Action Plans on food and nutrition policy (2000-2005 and 2007-2012)
from the European Office of the World Health Organization, a European Charter on Obesity signed by
virtually all 50 of the WHO European region member states, a number of EU presidency initiatives (e.g. from
Denmark, France, the UK and Finland), and policy instruments from the European Council of Ministers, the
European Parliament and the European Commission, including the latter’s White Paper on Diet and Physical
Activity, and the creation of the European Commission Platform on Diet, Physical Activity and Health.
Research issues: The failure to find a satisfactory ‘cure’ for obesity has led to increased research into the
effective prevention of the condition. Reviews of the evidence-base for obesity prevention policy – including
the widely influential 2007 UK government Foresight review1 – have recognised the difficulty of undertaking
public health research at population level. Modelling work on the potential impact of the obesity epidemic
shows the high levels of future costs that may arise, not only in the health services but in terms of lost
productivity and lost employment opportunity, social and household costs and lost quality of life. Population
surveillance can be undertaken, and is essential, but interventions such as controlled trials are extremely
difficult to perform in large and heterogenous groups. Evidence gathered to date focuses on individual
interventions such as clinical treatment or small group interventions such as health promotion in schools or
workplaces. This creates a significant bias in the settings and approaches for which ‘hard’ evidence is
available. The impact on health of population-wide policies affecting food supply and consumption –
including policies affecting price, availability, promotional marketing, food formulation, portioning,
packaging and labelling – has received remarkably little research attention.
1
See www.bis.gov.uk/foresight/our-work/projects/current-projects/tackling-obesities/reports-and-publications
6
 Research at European level in Obesity
A number of European research projects have been undertaken in relation to obesity, including many
which specifically include a food-related interest. .
 Main programmes and projects relevant to Obesity
We searched health and policy-related areas of the European Commission’s website, including
Cordis, DG SANCO, DG RELEX, DG AGRI and DG AIDCO, for obesity-themed research. Project
descriptions or abstracts published in databases on these websites were searched using the term
‘obesity’, identifying a total of 148 EC-funded projects.
Table 1.1: EC-funded programmes 2000-2010 involving obesity and food
Funding body
Call
Number of
projects
DG Research
calls under FP5
21
FP6
49
FP7
55
DG SANCO /
calls for work in the field of public
EAHC
health, health inequalities, health
20
determinants, health promotion
DG RELEX
calls for policy development in
1
(External
international frameworks
Relations)
DG AGRI
calls for work regarding food
2
consumption patterns and obesity
Projects undertaken before 2000 were not included. Together these projects represent EUR 275.9M
in Commission funding, of which the current FP7 programme is responsible for EUR 92.3M. The
figure below presents these projects according to their funding body, showing that the vast majority
(84%) of obesity related research is funded by DG Research.
A range of obesity-related issues were mentioned in the introduction; examples of EC-funded
research projects that fall within these categories include:
 genetic predisposition
Genetic susceptibility for type 2 diabetes and obesity among immigrants in Europe - prevention
and treatment (FP6)
 cellular and endocrinal functions
The role of adipose tissue in insulin resistance and inflammation - the way to obesity and type 2
diabetes (FP6)
 neural pathways of appetite control
NEUROFAST: The Integrated Neurobiology of Food Intake, Addiction and Stress (FP7)
 pharmacological intervention in energy balance
ADAPT: Adipokines as drug targets to combat adverse effects of excess adipose tissue (FP7)
 individual dietary patterns of nutrient intake
V is for vegetable: Applying learning theory to increase liking and intake of vegetables (FP7)
7
 social and cultural eating behaviour
EUROBESE: Ethics and the Obesity and Overweight Epidemic: Image, Culture, Technologies
and Interventions (FP6)
 clinical interventions and treatments
Neuromodulation of vagal activity for the treatment of obesity (FP5)
 health promotion campaigns
PRO GREENS: Promotion of fruit and vegetable consumption among schoolchildren in Europe
(DG SANCO)
 national and international policies
StanMark: Developing international standards for marketing foods and beverages to children
(DG RELEX)
 Infrastructures & equipment relevant to Obesity
A wide range of research facilities have been used for obesity-related projects, including laboratory
analytical equipment for genetic, cellular and biochemical research, human testing laboratories for
eating patterns and energy expenditure, and community settings such as schools and workplaces for
surveillance and interventions.
Concerns over the reliability of self-reported measures of body weight have led to recommendations
that surveillance should use trained staff to collect measured information on weight and height, and
to include other measures of adiposity, such as waist circumference, whenever feasible.
 Major research groups relevant to Obesity
Consortiums which include academic departments, voluntary organisations and commercial
organisations have featured in most of the EC-funded research projects. The wide range of research
possibilities for tackling obesity has allowed a number of different disciplines to participate in joint
projects. An examination of the coordinating bodies for EC funded research projects revealed that
111 institutions had each been awarded projects, of which 18 institutions had a total of 55 projects
between them and a further 93 institutions had one project each (see Table 1.2). In terms of regional
patterning, the industrialised countries of western Europe tend to lead the research endeavour (see
Table 1.3). Facilities and surveillance opportunities in southern and eastern regions have led to their
involvement in many projects, but only occasionally in a coordinating role.
Table 1.2: EC funded projects by coordinating institution
Coordinator
University Of Cambridge
Karolinska Institutet
Institut National De La Sante Et De La Recherche Medicale (Inserm)
Erasmus Universitair Medisch Centrum
Göteborg University
King’s College London
Rowett Research Institute
University College London
University Of Dundee
University Of Oxford
Country
UK
Sweden
France
Netherlands
Sweden
UK
UK
UK
UK
UK
# Projects
10
6
5
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
8
Fundación Para La Gestión De La Investigación Biomédica De Cádiz
Institut National De La Recherche Agronomique
Universiteit Maastricht
Wageningen Universiteit
University Of Patras
Universidade De Santiago De Compostela
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich
International Association for the Study of Obesity
93 other institutions
France
France
Netherlands
Netherlands
Greece
Spain
Switzerland
UK
-
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1 each
Table 1.3: EC funded projects by country of the coordinating institution
Country
UK
Spain
France
Netherlands
Germany
Italy
Sweden
Finland
Greece
Switzerland
Austria
Belgium
Denmark
Ireland
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Norway
Portugal
Russia
FP5
6
2
3
1
3
1
1
FP6
16
4
3
6
6
1
3
2
2
1
1
1
1
FP7
15
9
7
4
3
4
2
2
4
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
DG Agri
1
1
EAHC
2
2
2
2
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
2
DG Sanco
2
DG Relex
1
Total
40
18
15
12
11
10
10
6
5
4
3
3
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
 Networks relevant to Obesity
Many networks promote scientific debate and research endeavour. However, only a few actually
participate in formal research projects in any role other than that of dissemination. The International
Association for the Study of Obesity (IASO) based in the UK has research capacity and has been
principal investigator for two EC-funded projects (PolMark: Policies on Marketing Food and
Beverages to Children, and StanMark: International Standards for Marketing Food and Beverages to
Children) , and work package leader for several others (HOPE, DYNAMO-HIA, ENERGY,
TOYBOX). IASO also organises meetings and congresses including the 4-yearly International
Congress of Obesity, runs training programmes (e.g. an online course for certification in obesity
management) and publishes several peer-reviewed scientific journals on obesity research.
Apart from IASO, the exchange of information on obesity research focuses on a number of networks
acting through journals, newsletters and conferences. The leading conference is the annual European
Congress on Obesity organised by the European Association for the Study of Obesity to provide a
dissemination forum for research advances in the field and to identify, debate and promote
innovative preventive and treatment strategies for obesity. The congress draws over 2500 participants
9
from more than 75 countries, who are experts and opinion leaders representing a range of professions
within the field. Smaller events are also organised: the annual meeting of the European Child Obesity
Group (<500 participants) arranges meetings for active researchers in childhood obesity, as does the
Scandinavian Paediatric Obesity Conference (<500 participants).
There is also a high-level policy network organised by the European Commission: The EU Platform
for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health designed as a forum for actors at European level
who are capable of committing themselves to action on the issues of diet, physical activity and
health. It is designed to stimulate, rather than pre-empt, other initiatives at national, regional or local
levels. To date the Platform involves over 30 member EU organisations, ranging from food industry
to consumer protection NGOs, who have worked on more than 200 commitments covering activities
in key fields including consumer information, education, advertising targeting children, labelling and
product reformulation. Platform members monitor and evaluate the performance of these
commitments. A Monitoring Progress Report by RAND in 2007 concluded that some Platform
members are struggling with the monitoring of their commitments; the mean quality score of
monitoring forms falls just short of an “adequate” level.
A large number of other relevant networks for information exchange exist. A summary of many of
these is available at http://www.iaso.org/site_media/uploads/Updated_HOPE_Network_Oct_2010.pdf
which was developed from a listing of relevant networks concerned with obesity research and policy
making, and compiled as part of the EC-funded HOPE project (see www.hopeproject.eu). This listing
includes academic and professional networks, health promotion and advocacy organisations, intergovernmental bodies and agencies, and trade and industry networks.
 Current Training Programmes relevant to Obesity
The only cross-European training programme specifically on obesity is SCOPE – the Specialist
Certificate of Obesity Professional Education – which includes face-to-face courses in European
countries (and some outside of the EU) and an internet-based on-line course in English and Spanish.
It is run as an educational service by the International Association for the Study of Obesity (see
www.scope-online.org).
Other opportunities for training in related fields exist through the relevant associations and
professions – such as those organised by academic departments of public health, nutrition, dietetics
and related subjects, and offered to students from all EU member states. Their international status is
usually shown through being taught in the most common second language in Europe, i.e. English.
10
 Publications & Congresses relevant to Obesity
Research activity in the field of obesity can be estimated from online library sources of scientific
publications and the organising of meetings on relevant research activities.
 Publications
Journals
Scientific, peer-reviewed papers on obesity are published in a number of journals specialising in
medical, biological and pharmaceutical sciences, and in recent years the number of journals with a
specialist emphasis on obesity have increased in number and in impact factor over the last decade.
There are now at least six journals specialising in obesity with impact factors above 3.0.
Table 2.1. Leading obesity journals
Impact factor in 2008
Journal
Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism
Obesity Reviews
International Journal of Obesity
International Journal of Pediatric Obesity
Obesity
Obesity Surgery
Obesity Facts
5.11
5.34
4.06
3.95
3.37
3.08
2.11 (2009)
However, a recent paper by Baier et al 20102 highlights the true multifactoral nature of this, finding
that journals specialising in obesity capture less than 20% of clinical obesity care research, leaving
more than 80% scattered across 249 non-obesity journals.
Papers
The volume of obesity research was assessed across seven different categories: gene, cell &
metabolic, treatment & comorbidities, eating & physical activity, food science (concerned with the
technical aspects of food), social & epidemiology, community, and policy. A detailed search of the
medical and scientific literature resulted in a total of 96,457 and 52,883 non-review articles in
PubMed and Web of Science respectively, excluding the overlap between categories. There was a
dramatic increase in the numbers of papers published (see Figure 2.1). The typology devised for this
report proved robust: analysis revealed that the seven categories encapsulate 95% and 97% of all
research papers identified using only ‘obesity’ as a search term in PubMed and Web of Science
respectively.
2
Baier LA, Wilczynski NL, Haynes RB. Tackling the growth of the obesity literature: obesity evidence spreads across
many journals. Int J Obes (Lond). 2010 Oct;34(10):1526-30
11
Figure 2.1: Growth in the number of obesity-related research papers 1979-2009
12000
# PubMed articles
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
1979
1989
1999
2009
Publication year
However, the nature of the research undertaken is not uniformly spread across different research
disciplines. Figure 2.2 below indicates the numbers of research papers published in each of the
categorieres described above.
Figure 2.2 Research papers in obesity according to main research interest
70,000
PubMed articles
WOS articles
60,000
# articles
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
Policy
Community
Social/
Epidemiology
Food Science
Eating & PA
Treatment/
Comorbidities
Gene, Cell & Metabolic
-
It can be seen from this analysis that the emphasis of obesity research has been on biological and
medical aspects of the topic, with relatively smaller outputs on food science, public health and social
policy issues. From this evidence, that from the changing themes in congresses (see below) and that
from statements of research need (see section 4), it is clear that the surveillance of obesity and its
determinants remain in urgent need of a stronger research effort. Food composition (including
formulation and portion sizes), food marketing (including labelling, packaging and advertising), food
12
behaviour (including factors influencing choice) and food accessibility (including pricing, supply and
location) remain particularly poorly researched.
 Congresses
The major congress in Europe relating to obesity is the annual European Congress on Obesity,
attracting some 2,500 participants from the medical, research and allied health workers and relevant
research organisations. Increasingly the congresses have extended their remit from ‘hard’ research
concerning genetic, physiological and behavioural studies to survey reports, interventions in the
community and policy-related research on issues such as food labelling, health claims, marketing
policies, food prices and food supplies, as these are recognised as potential ‘upstream’ drivers of
obesity. Poster abstracts from European and International Congresses on Obesity were classified
according to the categories presented in Section 2.1. Figure 3 below reflects the described trend to a
certain degree, although some poster ‘tracks’ straddled multiple categories making classification
difficult and obscuring the pattern.
Figure 2.3 Obesity research presented at European and international congresses
% of posters per congress
70%
1998
2000
2004
2006
2008
2010
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
Policy
Social & Epidemiology
Eating & PA
Treatment/Comorbidities
Gene, cell & metabolic
0%
Category
In addition, the European Child Obesity Group now has an annual meeting attracting some 200
participants, as does the Scandinavian Paediatric Obesity Conference. Networks in related disciplines
(i.e. nutrition, health promotion, physical activity or any of the comorbidities accompanying obesity,
such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease) whose meetings often include sessions on obesity
include the European Heart Network annual congress, the European Society of Cardiology annual
congress, the meetings of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education, and the
International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. A relatively new type of event
is emerging where two disciplines with overlapping interests organise a joint congress. An example
of this is the 2010 Cancer and Obesity conference in Valencia, Spain, organised jointly by the
International Association for the Study of Obesity, the Union for International Cancer Control and
the World Cancer Research Fund. Whilst the focus is on the link between obesity and cancer, other
nutrition and dietary aspects of cancer are also considered.
13
 Comparison of country reports: obesity research
 Countries
Research themes or projects as specified in the country reports were categorized using broadly the
same categories as used in Section 2 of this report, in order to identify areas of focus in each country
(see Table 3.1). The majority of countries (21 of 31) are undertaking lifestyle and prevention
research, or community and population studies and programmes. Finland, Romania, Switzerland and
the UK appear to be leaders in the latter category, with Lithuania at the forefront in the latter, and the
Netherlands and Italy as big players in both. Table 3.1 presents a summary of the activities described
in the country reports that are relevant to obesity. More extensive details are given in the Annex to
this report.
Table 3.1 Summary of country reports on obesity research.
Country
Number
of named
institution
s
Gene/ Cell/
Metabolic
Themes/Research areas/Objectives
Food
Treatment/
Lifestyle/
Psychology
science/
Comorbidities
Prevention
Technology
Austria
6
Belgium
5
1
Bulgaria
8
2
Croatia
3
Cyprus
6
Czech Republic
9
6
9
Denmark
6
1
2
1
4
Estonia
4
1
1
1
Finland
7
3
2
1
10
France
4
10
1
5
2
Germany
17
6
3
2
4
Greece
4
1
Hungary
4
Iceland
1
Ireland
3
8 + 18
RA
3
1
2
1
Lithuania
6
2
1
1
Luxembourg
6
3
1
Malta
7
1
Netherlands
10
Poland
3
Portugal
21
Romania
15
Italy
Latvia
1
1
2
2
2
1
5
2
2
4
4
1
1
1
3
1
2
1
7
2
5
3
1
3
2
2
2
1
2
6
1
1
3
1
2
2
2
1
2
Policy
3
5
3
1
3
Community/
Population
10
1
1
2
2
8
3
1
2
3
1
10
1
5
2
3
7
5
8
1
1
1
3
9
7
2
7
4
12
1
4
14
Slovakia
?
Slovenia
-
Spain
7
3
Sweden
12
Switzerland
20
Turkey
UK
1
1
2
3
1
5
1
5
8
2
3
10
3
5
11
2
5
3
6
12
3
7
4
25
1
4
5
RA = Regional authorities
Bolded figures indicate research areas/themes/objectives that feature prominently in the research described in country reports focus
Level of disclosure
Country reports showed a great deal of variation in the degree of detail provided for project or
programmes. Some countries specified the objectives of individual research projects or referred to
them by name, in which case it was possible to ascertain whether or not the activity was specifically
concerned with obesity. Others, however, stated a general programme of research lasting for several
years and encompassing multiple projects (i.e. public health nutrition), national action plans, calls for
action, or the research focus areas for a department at an institution (i.e. healthy lifestyles across
social groups, or psychology of food choice). Some country reports mentioned topic areas related to
obesity and food but did not indicate if research in these areas was actually being undertaken.
Institutions
Accordiong to the country reports, almost all obesity-related research is conducted in public
institutions throughout Europe, with the exception of Finland where a public-private partnership
undertakes work on products to prevent and treat obesity, and several food companies in Portugal
and Romania focus on the development of reformulated food products. The types of instuitutions
identified include: universities (most commonly), government health, social, agriculture and
education departments, not-for-profit organisations, national research institutes, industry, and publicprivate partnership bodies.
Collaborative research
Nineteen countriy reports indicated collaborative work on European projects, including those funded
by the European Commission. Of those, six (Denmark, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Portugal and
Switzerland) specified projects that were obesity-related. Five countries are collaborating on an
international scale, and four acknowledged plans to do so or the importance of this type of
collaboration. Fifteen countries reported involvement in Joint Programming Initiatives, either
‘Health, food and diet for a healthy life’ or ‘Health, food and the prevention of diet-related diseases’.
Funding
Financial information for obesity-related projects and programmes was very limited in the country
reports. There was no discussion of national funding available for obesity research, and only a few
countries indicated specific amounts, either available under certain calls for research or as budgets
awarded for projects.
 Overview
The complex nature of obesity and the many risk factors and co-morbidities make the scope for
obesity-related research very wide. Some country reports disclosed very specific research areas or
objectives related either directly to obesity (e.g. impact of obesity on digestive functions and enteric
nervous system; nature of dietary lipids and early development of adipose tissues; metabolic and
15
functional effects of consumption of dairy fractions among overweight; identification of genes
influencing body weight; implementation of measures to prevent obesity or overweight) or indirectly
(e.g. early recognition of diabetes, food consumption analyses, product development of new healthy
foods; relationship between physical environment and eating habits and physical activity; evaluation
of food labels reading; socio-demographic, psychosocial and environmental predictors of healthrelated behaviours).
The country reports do not provide quantitative data but do indicate a substantial volume of research
relevant to obesity currently being conducted in most countries. The UK, Switzerland, Sweden and
the Netherlands appear to be most active in the field of obesity research with 30, 27, 20 and 18
projects or programmes reported respectively across 23, 18, 12 and 10 different institutions
respectively.
The country reports provide encouraging evidence that a range of obesity-related topics are being
addressed in the research fields by different types of institutions and with various approaches. The
apparent volume of work being undertaken and the number of institutions involved points to the
importance of collaboration and the need to develop tools to track and share data and disseminate the
results in order to prevent duplication of efforts and to encourage synergies.
16
 Towards 2020: assessing needs for obesity research
European and national research in obesity faces a number of research challenges which are being
met, and further challenges which remain to be tackled.
 Knowledge needs
In order to identify the research challenges regarding obesity, we first need to identify the major
‘consumers’ of research and the requirements they have expressed. As noted earlier, the there has
been a concerted research effort by the health sector and the commercial sector with health care
interests (including medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and treatment solutions) but this has led to
only partial success. Treatments for obesity are being intensively researched but without a significant
breakthrough, which has led researchers to turn their attention towards non-medical approaches to
obesity management and prevention. These focus on the environment (physical, financial, social,
educational, regulatory etc) of the individual, along with the social policies which determine that
environment. Food-related health behaviour plays a major role in this recent research endeavour.
 Significant research questions
Recognising the need for non-medical approaches to obesity management and prevention has led to a
demand for products, facilities and policies to help individuals manage their bodyweight. Products
and facilities include slimming aids, reformulated foods and beverages, and improved food labelling.
Policies are increasingly recognising the need for population-wide strategies to make ‘healthy
choices the easy choices’. This latter issue has meant that policy-makers have started to seek answers
to questions which researchers have only just started to consider, such as those shown in table 4.1.
Table 4.1: Examples of policy-led research needs
Policy option
Evidence need
Taxes on sugar-sweetened soft drinks
Ban on TV food advertising to children
‘Traffic light’ nutrition guidance on food
packages
Levies on foreign direct investment
Central purchasing to nutritional standards
Extending free school meals
Restricting fast food premises near schools
Effects of purchasing, consumption, total dietary intake
Effectiveness in terms of dietary patterns, bodyweight
change, cost effectiveness of DALYs saved, impact on health
inequalities, business impact
Consumer understanding, effect on purchasing, effect on total
diet, effect on product reformulation
Effect on types of product brought to market, effect on local
food supplies
Effect on producer prices, consumer prices, consumer
purchasing and diet
Effect on foods consumed, effect on total diet, effect onchild
growth
Effect on foods consumed, effect on total diet, effect onchild
growth
 Ways to organise research: priorities, developing agendas
As noted above, the consumers of research include the commericial sector and the policy-making
sector. The commericial sector includes slimming products and reformulated food products as well
as medical products for obesity treatment. The slimming sector has manifestly failed to find a
reliable and acceptable ‘solution’ (some would argue that they have no interest in finding such a
product) while the food industry struggles to find products which they can sell with an adequate
17
added-value margin, when the public health advice is to eat foods with low added value (eg fresh
fruits and vegetables, wholegrains, lean meats and fish) and a reduced quantity of foods overall.
Policy-related research is the greatest challenge. In order to focus research and ensure it responds to
policy needs, research funding agencies should take into account the policy strategy documents
developed by European government and inter-governmental agencies, non-governmental advocacy
bodies and policy-oriented research institutes. The lead organisation is the World Health Organzation
(at global and European Regional levels), along with strategy documents on obesity from other UN
agencies, the European Commission, the Council of Europe and the European Parliament, and
documents produced by member state governments during their EU presidencies.
Considerable opportunities exist for the development of a coordinated research effort to survey and
monitor the obesity-driving food environment across Europe, and to develop policy-specific
evaluations of member state interventions to make use of ‘natural experiments’ when policies are
introduced – such as the UK ban on TV advertising of unhealthy food to children, the Danish
increase in tax on sugared beverages, the French ban on vending machines in schools or the
Norwegian subsidies given for the distribution of fruit and vegetables. Evaluations were conducted
for some of these interventions: Ofcom calculated that the UK ban resulted in a 37% reduction in
children's exposure to HFSS (high fat, sugar or salt) advertising and a significant shift in the balance
of food and drink advertising on television towards non-HFSS products, and the Norwegian fruit and
vegetable subsidy was found to encourage consumption.
Additional resources can be found in the non-governmental sector. Bodies such as the International
Association for the Study of Obesity, the European Heart Network and others involved in obesityrelated issues (diabetes, cancers, dietary behaviour etc) have the potential to provide valuable
perspectives on policy needs and the gaps in the evidence base. These organisations already organise
networking activities but more effort could be made to involve them in the development of research
funding strategies for funding organisations, including the European Commission.
 Interaction between public research and industry
There are potential conflicts of interest when involving the commercial sector in determining the
directions of public health policy, including public health research priorities. Public health advice to
reduce the consumption of fatty, sugary and salt-laden foods in order to reduce the over-consumption
of food energy can sit uncomfortably with industry’s underlying need to ensure continuing sales
growth through increased quantity or increased apparent added value (processing) of foods. For food
companies, the challenge is to develop products or ingredients which can generate rising sales while
reducing the food energy consumed (and – for the sake of other diet related diseases – the amount of
fats, sugars, salt etc consumed). ‘Diet’ drinks, fibre-rich ‘filling’ foods and other products are
offered, but the challenge remains: how to develop products which fulfil public health needs while
generating adequate returns on investment.
There is an argument for not involving public funding in this quest to solve a commercial question,
but the approach which might best suit all parties is to consider whether market incentives can be
generated from the public sector to help companies reduce their dependence on sales of less healthful
products and encourage companies to invest in the supply of healthful products. Thus publiclyfunded research into product reformulation and substitution might be justified, but the wider policy
picture also needs research support from public or public-private funding – for example research
projects to find the most effective use of the public sector’s food purchasing power, the use of
taxation and subsidy, the use of agricultural policies and industrial investment policies, retail
planning policies and economic stimulation policies – directed towards public health benefits.
18
 Gaps and Overlaps for further research
To identify gaps in current obesity research, the volume of obesity research in various categories (see
Section 2 of this report) was evaluated against the EC-funded projects (see Section 1). Figure 5.1
below shows that EC-funded research matches the general research pattern with some exceptions –
an extra emphasis has been put in the EC-funded research on genetic associations with food and
obesity (this includes the ‘nutri-genomics’ research) and there is greater emphasis in EC-funded
research on community-based interventions to prevent obesity and on policy analysis relating to
obesity prevention. EC-funded research can be seen as falling short of the general research pattern in
the area of social drivers of obesity and surveys of obesity prevalence.
Obesity research by category
60,000
PubMed articles
120
50,000
EC funded projects
100
10,000
20
-
0
Policy
40
Community
20,000
Social/
Epidemiology
60
Food Science
30,000
Eating & PA
80
Treatment/
Comorbidities
40,000
# EC funded projects
140
Gene, Cell & Metabolic
# articles
70,000
 Structures
As noted above, research priorities can be assisted through policy analyses and the development of
more coherent links between policy-makers and the research community. An under-used resource in
this respect is the community of public health professional bodies and public health advocacy
organisations who monitor policy developments and can provide strategic commentary on these. A
Europe-wide consultative forum, perhaps derived from the membership of the DG Sanco Platform on
Diet, Physical Activity and Health in combination with member state representation on the High
Level Group on Nutrition and Physical Activity.
 Infrastructures
There are no obvious shortfalls in physical infrastructure. There is a need for greater accessibility and
dissemination of information. This should include a ‘one stop shop’ for research funding, where
food, nutrition and related public health research calls can be viewed.
19
 Ways to organise research
With the current restrictions on public sector spending, there is a need for more support to be found
from the private sector, but mechanisms need to be found to reduce the risk of conflicted interests
mentioned earlier. Possible solutions may be suggested, such as a blind trust into which industry and
foundation support can be placed, or a form of research levy taken from the commercial operators
who benefit from the research.
20
 Conclusions and Proposals
Obesity research in Europe is unevenly distributed, poorly integrated and driven in part by
commercial needs and in part by local policy needs. The research field would benefit from increased
coordination and better understanding of the drivers of the obesity epidemic.
 Research fields
For over a decade the larger part of the research budget into obesity has been dominated by basic
science and medical science, with few resources put into research into obesity prevention in the
community. This has changed recently, with small but increasing research funding for projects in
health behaviour, including food choices and dietary patterns. This is to be welcomed, but there
remain large gaps in the understanding of the causes of obesity, especially in terms of the social and
environmental drivers of health behaviour and food choices – for example in terms of the differential
pricing of different foods, the availability and promotion of different foods, the causes of social
inequalities in food access and food choices, along with increased surveillance of food intake
patterns and their changing trends.
As more information about the ‘upstream’ causes of obesity and poor diets emerges, there follows a
need for a further research effort into the most appropriate policies for intervention to reduce obesity
prevalence and prevent obesity in healthy populations. Policy-led research is relatively new to the
research community, but the idea of ‘policy-based evidence-making’ is gaining strength as policymakers seek information on best practices and seek understanding of the cost-effectiveness of
different policy options.
 Research organisation, structures and infrastructures
Obesity is a pan-European health concern and the drivers of obesity are similar across all member
states in the Community. Health policy and research policy are competences shared between member
states and Community institutions, leading to a variety of research initiatives that involve multiple
institutions. This should be encouraged as it provides significant added value, especially for smaller
member states. However, the research effort is uneven: the country reports indicate that four
countries are undertaking extensive activity (see Section 3 above), and there is a need for the results
of this activity to be more widely shared and disseminated.
Several bodies could be more involved in the coordination of research and the identification of
policy-related research needs. The role of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
could be extended to include chronic disease and related conditions such as obesity, as the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention does in the United States.
Another body that could provide a valuable contribution to the coordination of pan-European obesity
research is the World Health Organization, whose European Regional Office led the 2006
intergovernmental Charter on Obesity, signed by all member states in the region. Finally, there could
be an opportunity to discuss research priorities and policy needs in the context of the European
Platform on Diet, Physical Activity and Health (along with the High Level Group on Diet and
Physical Activity) coordinated by DG Sanco. The Platform includes food industry, health
professionals and health advocates at European level, and already convenes on a regular basis to
consider policy-related activities across the region.
21
Annex 1: Details of obesity research provided in the country reports
The following table presents activities described in the country reports that are relevant to obesity.
Country
Austria
Institution
Competence Center Nutrition and
Prevention (CC PREV)
Programme
Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) and
Department of Nutritional Sciences of
University of Vienna
Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) and the
Austrian Agency for Health and Food
Safety (AGES)
Fund Healthy Austria
Medical University of Vienna
Austrian nutrition report
University of Vienna
Belgium
Belgian Food and Drink Federation
(FEVIA), Belgian Olympic Committee and
the association NUBEL
European Confederation of Food and
Drink Industries (CIAA)
FEVIA
National Food Platform - Flanders' Food
National Food Platform - WagrALIM
Bulgaria
Medical University Pleven
Medical University Plovdiv
Medical University Sofia
Medical University Stara Zagora
Medical University Varna
Military Medical Academy
National action plan nutrition
Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent
Medicine
Department of Nutritional Sciences
Happy Body Research Programme
Themes/Research areas/Objectives
Apply scientifically proven diet recommendations to the people with the aim
to improve health conditions and reduce diet-related diseases; Support and
evaluation of prevention programmes
Describe and document current nutritional situation in Austria
Improve the eating habits of Austrian people; Reduce food associated
diseases and control the increase of overweight by 2020
Supports projects dealing with health, sport and nutrition
Obesity; Psychology and communication for prophylaxis of for example
obesity
Biomarkers to describe diet-related diseases; Diet surveys; Health and diet
reports
Applied research on obesity
Food and consumer policy
Public Fund for Food & Health
Recognizes projects that encourage healthy diet and exercise; Functional
foods (health effects, healthy diet, nutrition, health claims); Consumer
trends regarding healthy products
Healthy Food (premium food quality, sensorial aspects);
Reduction/substitution of fat, sugar content
Healthy Food; Network of excellence on Consumer Science to build
capacity in this area and support national and regional programmes to
provide consumers with safe, healthy and affordable food produced in a
sustainable manner
Nutrition and nutrition-related diseases
Nutrition and nutrition-related diseases
Effect of certain ingredients on population’s obesity
Nutrition and nutrition-related diseases
Nutrition and nutrition-related diseases
Nutrition and nutrition-related diseases
22
Country
Croatia
Cyprus
Institution
Ministry of Healthcare
National Centre for Public Health
Protection
Funded by Ministry of Health and Social
Welfare
Funded by Ministry of Health and Social
Welfare
Funded by Ministry of Health and Social
Welfare
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and
Rural Development
University of Zagreb
Cyprus Consumer Association
Cyprus University of Technology, Faculty
of Health
FoodLab
Government funded
Themes/Research areas/Objectives
Reduce risk of food and nutrition-related diseases
Monitoring of the food intake and the nutrition status of the population;
Implementation of specialized software for nutrition assessment at all
Regional inspections for Public Health Protection and Control; Update the
recommended values for nutrition intake of the Bulgarian population,
development of guidelines; Elaboration of National recommendations for
healthy nutrition of the Bulgaria population, promotion of the
recommendations
Nutrition and nutrition-related diseases
National programme of health care of
persons with diabetes
National strategy for health
Decrease risks of side effects of diabetes; Early recognition of diabetes
Programme of health care of the
population living on the islands
Call for Proposals - allocation of Grants for
the Food Industry
School of Medicine
Better availability of any health needs of island population, including
nutritional aspects and healthy food delivery
Food production and nutrition
CYKIDS
Academy of Sciences
Social, Economic and Humanitarian
Sciences: Society
Sports for All
Health and biological sciences: Science
and Food Biotechnology
Social, Economic and Humanitarian
Sciences: Society
MENTOR (Programme for Health
Promotion)
Institute of Physiology
Charles University
Department of Nutrition
Czech Ministry of Health
Research and Development programme of
the Ministry of Health II (2008-2011)
Ministry of Education
National Framework Programme, DESMI,
2009-2010
National Framework Programme, DESMI,
2009-2010
Czech
Republic
Programme
National Food and Nutrition Action Plan
Education of population of health risks (incl. nutritional aspects)
Obesity
Food and health in relation to the policy level and the rights of the
consumer
Overweight and obesity in preadolescent children and their parents;
urbanization and dietary habits
Nutritional value determination
Psychological conditions such as anorexia, bulimia, obesity
Importance of sports and healthy lifestyle at schools
Nutrition and health
Psychological conditions such as anorexia, bulimia, obesity
Healthy diet for primary school children
Obesity; Diabetes; Hereditary metabolic disorders; ex. Induction of
mitochondria in white fat: a common target for treatments ameliorating
obesity and insulin resistance
Nutrition epidemiology; Diabetes; Metabolism; Nutrition status of population
groups; ex. Active lifestyle in a biosocial context
Nutrition, metabolism, diabetology; ex. Effectiveness of diet and exercise in
obese women and influence of variants of the candidate genes of obesity in
population; Relative abundance of macrophages and other cell populations
in adipose tissue in relation to obesity and associated metabolic
complications; Additive effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and
pioglitazone in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus; The Effect of a
23
Country
Institution
Programme
Czech Ministry of Health
Research and Development programme of
the Ministry of Health III (2010-2015)
Ministry of Agriculture - Institute of
Agriculture Economics and Information
Ministry of Public Health
Ministry of Public Health
National Technology Platform Food for
Life
Institute for Clinical and Experimental
Medicine
Institute of Endocrinology
Sunfood
Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Kralove,
Dept. Gerontology and Metabolism
COST
Denmark
Bispebjerg Hospital
Danish Agency for Science, Technology
and Innovation or the Danish Food
Industry Agency or the Danish National
Advanced Technology Foundation
Danish Agency for Science, Technology
and Innovation or the Danish Food
Industry Agency or the Danish National
Advanced Technology Foundation
Danish Agency for Science, Technology
and Innovation or the Danish Food
Industry Agency or the Danish National
Advanced Technology Foundation
National Research Programme II (20062011)
Institute for Preventive Medicine
Indo-Danish programme for strategic
research collaboration within biotechnology
Themes/Research areas/Objectives
Low-Fat Vegetarian Diet and Physical Activity on Insulin Resistance in
Type 2 Diabetes mellitus; Genetic and factors of life style by children with
metabolic syndrome and their dependents; Cost effectiveness of diagnostic
and therapy in endocrine and metabolic diseases; Mechanisms and
consequences of the accumulation of lipids in liver associated with
metabolic syndrome - the possibilities of nutritional and pharmacological
intervention; Nutrigenomic interactions in different weight reducing diets;
Childhood obesity surveillance
Nutrition, metabolic and endocrine diseases. Focus is on metabolic and
nutrition disorders – Diabetes mellitus type II, osteoporosis, tyreopathy,
dyslipidemics, obesity, malnutrition related to grave diseases,
nutrigenomics and personalised nutrition
Food consumption analyses; Food pricing; International comparisons
related to food production and consumption; Food trade; Trends in food
sector
Diabetology; Metabolism; Nutrition
Metabolism; Diabetology; Obesitology
Development of products with positive properties and beneficial effects on
overall health particularly obesity and cardiovascular diseases; Research
and development of food with modification of fat and mineral component
aimed at prevention of obesity
Safe quality foods focused on overweight reduction
Diagnostics and treatment of nutritional and metabolic disorders
(diabetology, obesitology, lipid metabolism diseases)
Insulin Resistance, Obesity and Diabetes Mellitus in the Elderly; Adipose
Tissue: A Key Target for Prevention of the Metabolic Syndrome
Sub-programme: Healthy life and healthy environment which covers
research in healthy food and nutrition
Food & health research - mainly obesity; Leads the Danish Obesity
Research Centre (DanORC), a Danish research network that includes
almost all Danish research institutes working on Obesity; EU funded
Diogenes (Diet, Obesity and Genes).
Healthy lifestyle focused on foods and nutrition
Interdisciplinary research programme on
the relationship between food, nutrition and
health
Interaction between nutrition, health perceptions and food consumption,
including food related diseases
Strategic research in health, food and
welfare
Connection between food, health and lifestyle
24
Country
Institution
The Technical University of Denmark
The Technical University of Denmark
Estonia
Finland
University of Copenhagen
Ministry of Social Affairs
Ministry of Social Affairs and Institute of
Health Development
Tallinn University of Technology
University of Tartu
University of Tartu
Finnish Association for the Study of
Obesity
Helsinki University Central Hospital
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry,
Finnish Food Safety Authority
Programme
FoodDTU Network (institutes engaged in
food)
National Food Institute
Faculty of Life Sciences
National Institute for Health Development
Population Health Development Plan 20092020
Department of Food Processing
Department of Sociology
Faculty of Medicine
National Strategy for Prevention of
Cardiovascular Diseases 2005-2020
Promote consumer access to healthy and safe food products; Prevent dietrelated disorders
Metabolic diseases; Diabetes
Health promotion and monitoring programmes including nutrition
Improvement of population’s nutrition and eating habits; Decrease the
proportion of overweight and obese by 33%
Nutrition surveys for children in schools and nurseries
Determinants of food habits
Food related diseases like diabetes, obesity
Improvement of eating habits
Obesity
Division of Medicine and Geriatrics
National Nutrition Council
MTT Agrifood Research Finland
National Consumer Research Centre
Strategic Centres for Science,
Technology and Innovation - Health and
well-being (Public-private partnership)
University of Eastern Finland
Themes/Research areas/Objectives
Health and nutrition
SalWe Ltd - Health & Well-Being (Obesity
and metabolic syndrome is one of 4 focus
areas)
Unit of Clinical Nutrition
Agri Food Research – eight programme
Health and Welfare of Children and Young
People SKIDI-KI’DS
Nutrition, Food and Health (ELVIRA)
Responding to public health Challenges
(SALVE)
SAPUSKA ValueFood for International
Markets
Obesity and lifestyle interventions
Co-ordinate and observe the action plan concerning nutrition in the
Government resolution for promoting healthy diet and physical activity;
observe the development of nutrition policy in Europe; Observe and
improve the nutritional situation in Finland by making Nutrition
Recommendations, giving Action Programmes and observing how Action
Programmes are fulfilled
Production and development of new healthy foods
Food economy and food culture; Sustainable diet; Changes in dietary
practices; Healthy eating
Develop products, services and practices to prevent and treat diseases
with major public health and economic impact, and comprehensively
maintain and improve the functional capabilities of an individual
Role of diet and individual foods and food components, and other lifestyle
factors and genetic factors in the maintenance of health as well as in the
etiologic and treatment of diet related chronic diseases; Nutrigenomics;
Metabolics; Nutrition and chronic diseases; Food and health; Health
promotion with nutrition
Product development of new healthy foods
Challenges for children’s health and the promotion of health
Research themes are: Nutrition, genetic factors and metabolism; consumer
behaviour, lifespan and health
Health-protecting and health-promoting factors; Life-course approaches
and critical periods of life; Health inequalities and clustering of ill health; ex:
type 2 diabetes; health effects of diet rich in plant-based food and fish
Development of neighbour market, healthy food and food with health
impact and food safety
25
Country
France
Institution
ANR (Research National Agency)
ANR
ANR
Programme
ALIA (Programme de Recherche en
Alimentation et Industries Alimentaires)
2008
ALIA 2009
PNRA 2005
ANR
PNRA 2006
ANR
PNRA 2007
CNRS (Centre national de la recherche
scientifique)
Calls for proposal of integrated support to
Major Interest Field (DMI) of the Ile de
France Region
Consumer Sciences
INRA (French National Institute for
Agricultural Research)
INRA & Ministry for higher education and
research
INRA (French National Institute for
Agricultural Research)
INSERM (Institut National de la Santé et
de la Recherche Médicale)
BMBF Universities
BMBF Universities, MRI, German Cancer
Research Institute
Impact of Obesity on the Digestive functions and Enteric Nervous System
Nature of dietary lipids and early development of adipose tissue; Influence
of a high calorie diet on mitochondrial activity: involvement in obesity and
metabolic syndrome; Effect of sensory learning on preferences and eating
behaviors of children aged from 8 to 10 years; Detection of nutrients and
control of food intake: The impact of nutritional imbalances.
Searching for early markers of metabolic dysregulations associated with
weight gain by a metabonomic approach; Metabolic and functional effects
of consumption of dairy fractions among overweight.
Modulating effects of dietary fibre on bacterial flora and inflammation for
the prevention of metabolic disorders induced by a fatty diet; Dietary fats
and inflammatory response: involvement in development of sarcopenia
obesity; Role of fatty acid transport FAT/CD36 in the detection of lipids in
tongue, intestine and brain: impact on feeding behaviour and health; Eating
behaviors of adolescents and cultural backgrounds; Socio-economic,
psychosocial and territorial behaviour determinants in food: a search based
on the SIRS cohort in Ile-de-France; Study of the relationship between
physical environment and eating habits and physical activity; Food and
Consumer Nutrition Information Policy: What respective contributions to the
control of health risk / benefit?
Obesity
Dietary behaviours, consumer behaviour and dietary habits, food and wellbeing
A healthy diet for a healthy life
Effects of food and nutrients on main
physiological functions of human beings
Circulation, metabolism, nutrition; Diabetes, metabolic disease
National Health and Nutrition Program
(PNNS)
Nutrinet
Germany
Themes/Research areas/Objectives
Preferences and eating behaviors towards fat, salty and sweet; Effect of
physical activity in adolescence on food habits and attitudes
National Genome Research Network
(Genome Network Adipositas)
Functional Food Research (2005-2008)
Improve the health of the entire population by acting on one of its major
determinants: nutrition
To highlight the specific role of nutritional factors: measure accurately food
intake but also take into account other determinants, such as physical
activity, weight, smoking, family history ... and watch links with health and
disease risk.
Identification of genes influencing body weight and subsequent clinical,
epidemiological and functional characterization of these genes
Examination of the molecular and function of food that could prevent foodrelated diseases (bio-active food)
26
Country
Institution
BMBF, FIDAM, Bavarian Association of
Statutory Health Insurance Physicians,
German Diabetes Centre, HGFMRI,
German Cancer Research Institute
BMBF Universities, FhGFIDAM, Bavarian
Association of Statutory Health Insurance
Physicians, German Diabetes Centre,
German Cancer Research Institute
BMELV
BMG
Deutsches Institut für
Ernährungsforschung
(German Institute of Human Nutrition)
FKE
Leibniz
Ministry of Food, Agriculture and
Consumer Protection and Ministry of
Health
MRI: Max Rubner Institut (Federal
Research Institute of Nutrition and Food)
MRI
Programme
Network Molecular Food Research
Themes/Research areas/Objectives
Research on etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis and therapy as well as
basic research on diabetes
Disease Related Competence Network
Adipositas Diabetes
Research on genesis and prevention etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis and
therapy of adipositas
IN FORM – Germany’s Initiative for Healthy
Nutrition and More Exercise
National Nutrition Survey II
Department of Nutritional Behaviour;
Department of Physiology and
Biochemistry of Nutrition
Research Institute for Infant Nutrition
Robert Koch Institute
State Lower Saxony
Universities, Deutsches Institut für
Lebensmitteltechnik
Universities
Universities
Universities, MRI, industry, public sector
research institutes
Greece
Harokopio University, Department of
Dietetics and Nutritional Science
Research Cooperation Agricultural and
Food Science Lower Saxony
Focal Point of Support: Food Research
National Genome Research Network
(Genome Network Adipositas)
Networks of Competence for Agriculture
and Food
Competition of Young Researchers:
Molecular Fundamentals of Human
Nutrition
Health Research Programme
Nutritional behaviour
“National Health Survey”, including nutrition behaviour
Understanding the molecular basis of nutrition-dependent diseases, and of
developing new strategies for prevention, treatment and nutritional
recommendations
Nutrition behaviour, food epidemiology with focus on children and
adolescents only.
Prevention of diabetes and medical care.
Increase of exercise, reduction of obesity and their interrelated diseases
Nutritient and energy intake of 14-80 year olds in Germany; current food
consumption, lifestyle and eating behaviour
Nutrional behaviour, physiology and biochemistry of nutrition
Food behaviour, food epidemiology, and physiology with the focus on
children and adolescents
Overweight and Obesity Among Children and Adolescents; Identify
effective prevention strategies important determinants at an early stage of
life
Bioactive food ingredients for healthy products, healthy nutrition and
consumer acceptance
Role of food components for the prevention of food related diseases
Identification of genes influencing body weight and subsequent clinical,
epidemiological and functional characterization of these genes
To contribute to the global challenges of malnutrition and obesity.
Meaning of food components for the development of metabolic diseases;
metabolism and its modulation by specific food ingredients
Prevention of food related diseases by basic research of food and
interventional research on behaviour
Health aspects of food
27
Country
Institution
NSRF 2007-2013
Strategic plan for the development of
R&D and innovation
Hungary
Programme
Developing high value-added food and
new products to meet specific needs and
preferences
Agriculture, Fishery, Livestock Farming,
Food and biotechnology
University of Athens, Department of
Medicine
Corvinus University, Budapest, Faculty of
Food Science
“Food for Life” National Technology
Platform
National Institute for Food and Nutrition
Science
Themes/Research areas/Objectives
Development of high nutritional value, better and healthier lifestyle in
relation to modern diseases such as metabolic syndrome
Foodstuffs priority includes: Consumer behaviour and preferences, healthy
eating, development of high value-added foodstuffs and new products to
meet specific needs and preferences
Nutritional epidemiology, epidemiology of chronic diseases
Research on healthy nutrition and production of healthy and functional food
National Institute for Health Development
(NIHD)
National Infant and Child Health Program
National Public Health Programme
Iceland
The Public Health Institute
Nutrition
Ireland
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries &
Food
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries &
Food (DAFF), Department of Health &
Children (DHC) and the Health Research
Board (HRB)
Food Institutional Research Measure
(FIRM)
Food for Health Ireland - 2008
Technologies to drastically reduce sugar, salt and fat levels in food
products without comprising sensory priorities
Monitors food consumption patterns and provides analytical services based
on accredited and standardised analysis methods; Elaborates and updates
dietary guidelines, organizes public health projects and takes part in the
decision making process of food and nutrition policies both at national and
international levels.
Improve the health of the Hungarian population, to develop disease
prevention and to promote healthy lifestyles; special emphasis on tackling
inequalities in health
Strategic priority: Nutrition - Unhealthy diets and inadequate meal
combinations can lead to obesity among school-aged children and may
also increase the risk of cardiovascular and other system diseases in later
life.
Healthy lifestyle and environment, including healthy nutrition with the aim to
transform poor nutritional habits and popularize up-to-date dietary habits as
part of comprehensive information on healthy lifestyles; Preventing illness
and reducing the burdens of disease, including screening and continuing
care for hypertension and diabetes and improving the health of elderly
Main objective: influence the nation’s food habits towards a healthier way,
i.e. closer to the national recommendations on diet and intake of nutrients.
Special emphasis is laid on increasing vegetable, fruit and fish
consumption, and on decreasing intake of salt and saturated fat. These
measures are to be achieved by increasing education in nutrition and by
making access to healthy foods easier, and thereby making healthy
choices easier. National food surveys and data are gathered on
consumption and sales of food. Special programmes as to diet and
exercise are targeted at children, teenagers and their families.
Food & health, nutrition, food quality
Many of these bioactive ingredients are derived from milk proteins,
carbohydrates and fats and are being tested for their impact on early infant
development and their ability to reduce the risk of infection, heart disease
and obesity
28
Country
Italy
Institution
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries &
Food (DAFF), Department of Health &
Children (DHC) and the Health Research
Board (HRB)
Programme
HRB Centre for Diet & Disease
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries &
Food (DAFF), Department of Health &
Children (DHC) and the Health Research
Board (HRB)
JINGO – National Nutrition Phenotype
Database
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries &
Food (DAFF), the Health Research Board
(HRB)
National Adult Nutrition Survey
18 Regions
A system surveys about the behavioural
risk in children aged 6-17 years
CCM
Consorzio di ricerca per l’innovazione
tecnologica, la qualità e la sicurezza degli
alimenti
Interdepartmental program
National Prevention Plan
Control of quality, functional and
toxicological safety and traceability
Lattonerie Carpenterie Meridionali S.R.L.
Enhancement of buckwheat through
process innovation (grinding) and product
(gluten-free foods, dietary and functional)
Ministry of Health
National Centre for Disease Prevention
and Control (CCM)
Gaining health
Good practices in the care of eating
disorders; social prevention in eating
disorders
Themes/Research areas/Objectives
Provide an evidence base for public policy, health promotion and clinical
practice on the prevention and management of obesity, diabetes and
related metabolic disorders; Population health modelling, diet obesity and
health in early life and pregnancy, cross-sectional and longitudinal
analyses from diabetes and heart disease studies, clinical management of
severe and morbid obesity in children and adults, consumer cognitive
response to food.
Gene-diet interaction research by identifying those nutrients which interact
with particular genes to increase the likelihood that an individual will
develop a certain disease, aiding in the prevention of obesity and chronic
diseases of ageing where gene-nutrient interactions are emerging as key
factors.
Annual survey of food consumption representative of the ROI population as
a whole; Databases will be designed to address both nutrition and food
safety issues of relevance to development and implementation of public
health policy and to the needs of the food industry; Data will be also be
collected on body weight, blood pressure, lifestyle, including physical
activity, attitudes to food and health, and determinants of food choice
Define and implement a national system for gathering data on
anthropometric measures, dietary habits and physical exercise in children
between 6-17 years old.
Obesity
Improve food raw materials, food and manufacturing processes currently in
use by providing new Tools, knowledge and models for the analysis of
nutritional and healthy food
Creating a "community of promoters" to support physical activity and proper
nutrition; Training plan aimed at operators of Services of food hygiene and
nutrition (SIAN) for the implementation of measures to prevent obesity;
Support for the European strategy to combat obesity; Good practice for
nutrition and physical activity in preschoolers: the promotion and
surveillance
Develop a chain of buckwheat for obtaining food (pasta and baked goods)
gluten-free diet and functional properties of great value to the dietary
treatment of diseases with high prevalence in the population and the
greatest social impact such as diabetes, hypertension, arteriosclerosis,
celiac disease el'ipercolestemia.
Improper eating habits; Physical inactivity
29
Country
Institution
National Research Institute for Food and
Nutrition (INRAN)
Programme
Region Toscana, Emilia Romagna,
Puglia, Veneto
Training of SIAn operators in the
implementation of measures to prevent
obesity
Good practices of social care and
prevention of eating disorders
Region Umbria
University of Pavia
WHO
Latvia
Lithuania
HR, Institute of Food Safety, Animal
Health and Environment (BIOR), Food &
Veterinary Food Service (FVS FC)
University of Latvia
Lithuanian Science and Studies
Foundation
Lithuanian Science and Studies
Foundation, University research fund
Lithuanian Science and Studies
Foundation, Welcome Trust fund, and
Oslo university
Ministry of Health
Support for the European strategy to
counteract obesity
Latvian national food consumption survey,
2007-2009
Institute of Experimental and Clinical
Medicine
Determinants of Cardiovascular diseases
in Eastern Europe
European Childhood Obesity Surveillance
Initiative
Determinants of Cardiovascular diseases
in Eastern Europe
Links between food information and choice
of foodstuffs from public health point of
view
Themes/Research areas/Objectives
Foodstuffs and their role in maintaining health and preventing risk of
nutrition-related diseases; Monitoring of eating habits and nutritional status
of the Italian population; Evaluation of national nutritional quality of food
products; Development of more effective food and nutrition policies;
Develop and test new methods for communication activities, information
and food education; Compilation of "Tables of Composition of Foods.";
Developed the "Guidelines for a Healthy Italian Food," Relationship
between diet and health, particularly with regard to food and typical
bioactive components that characterize the Mediterranean diet, the eating
habits and lifestyles of the Italians; Conducting studies and interventions on
population groups to correlate diet, lifestyle and health status; Analysis of
tastes, habits, preferences and motivations of Italian food choices;
Continuous monitoring of food consumption to assess national food issues;
Relationship between overweight/obesity and dietary/lifestyle factors
among Italian adolescents
Support SIAN operators in the implementation of measures to prevent
obesity and overweight
Good practices of care and social prevention in eating disorders; develop
collection of best practices in prevention, research and treatment of eating
disorders, which may constitute a reference point and example for updating
and / or redefining Guidelines released in 1998.
Randomised controlled trial of effects of dietary supplements on
compliance with diets in overweight subjects
Initiate a more formal approach agreed at European level to set common
basis for interventions preventing obesity
Collection and processing of information related to Latvia inhabitants food
consumption and nutrition behaviour
Neuroendocrinology and abnormalities of body weight regulation; Coronary
and peripheral atherosclerosis; Metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus and
other endocrine disorders; Role of gene polymorphisms in the development
of cardiovascular diseases and
diabetes.
Dietary risk factors of cardiovascular disease
Monitoring of growth, nutrition and physical activity habits of primary school
children in Lithuania
Dietary risk factors of cardiovascular disease; Gene-nutrients interactions
Evaluation of food labels reading
30
Country
Institution
Ministry of Health
Programme
National Nutrition Survey
Research Council of Lithuania
National Science Programme - Chronic
Noncommunicable Disease (call for
projects)
Interaction of genes and diet in assessing
risk of dyslipidaemias and obesity in
Lithuanian population
Behavioural risk factors for chronic
noncommunicable diseases among
adolescents
The trends and inequalities in behaviour
related to risk of chronic diseases among
Lithuanian population
Schoolchildren eating habits and quality of
nutritional services at school
Research Council of Lithuania
Research Council of Lithuania
Research Council of Lithuania
State budget
State budget
State budget (Ministry of Health),
Lithuanian Science and Studies
Foundation, WHO
State budget, international collaboration
State budget, WHO, international
collaboration
Students Health and Health Behaviour
Survey
CINDI Nutrition Survey
Health Behaviour Survey in School-Aged
Children
Health Behaviour Survey among
Lithuanian Adult Population
State Food and Nutrition Strategy and
Action Plan 2003-2010
Luxembourg
Centre de Recherche Public-Henri Tudor
Centre de Recherche Public-Santé
Centre Hospitalier Luxembourg
International Network for Studies in
Technology, Environment, Alternatives,
Development (INSTEAD)
Laboratoires Réunis
University of Luxembourg
Malta
Department of Health Promotion and
Disease Prevention
Department Health Care Technologies
Public Health – Epidemiology Unit
Departments of: Cardiology and CVD,
Endocrinology and Diabetology
Faculty des Lettres, des Sciences
Humaines, des Arts et des Sciences de
l'Education
National Obesity Campaign
Themes/Research areas/Objectives
Evaluation of nutrient intake in national random sample of Lithuanian adult
population
Diet as a risk factor for noncommunicable disease
Evaluate interaction between genetic and dietary factors associated with
dyslipidaemias and obesity among Lithuanian adult population. (budget:
€71,200)
evaluate trends in food habits of adolescents and to predict changes in risk
of chronic noncommunicable diseases in adults
examine the trends and social inequalities in health behaviour including
food habits among Lithuanian population aged 25-64
Study eating habits of schoolchildren (9 and 11 grades) and quality of
services supplying meal at school; to analyse trends of these data over 4
years period
Evaluation of health behaviour, including nutrition habits, prevalence of
overweight and obesity among students of Kaunas universities
Evaluation of nutrient intake, dietary habits and prevalence of dietary
related risk factors of chronic noncommunicable diseases in rural regions of
Lithuania
Monitoring of health behaviour, including nutrition habits, also prevalence
of overweight and obesity in School-Aged Children of Lithuania
Monitoring of health behaviour, including nutrition habits, also prevalence
of overweight and obesity in different social groups of Lithuanian adult
population
Promotion of healthy nutrition of the Lithuanian population; Improvement of
access of food of high quality for all social groups; Monitoring of nutritional
status and nutrition-related health problems
Nutrition and chronic diseases
Chronic diseases including CVD, diabetes, obesity
Risk factors of diabetes and diagnostics, chronic disease in general,
obesity
Health state and determinants; Social factors and health; Obesity
Chronic diseases – prevalence/diagnostic
Psychology and health (e.g. dietary habits, food sensory)
Raising awareness about obesity and its adverse effects on health,
promoting healthy eating and portions, encouraging activity, weight
management classes
31
Country
Institution
Department of Health Promotion and
Disease Prevention
Director General for Education
Programme
Obesity Strategy
Themes/Research areas/Objectives
In preparation
Healthy Eating Lifestyle Plan (2007)
Guidelines and resources to help schools design, implement and monitor a
healthy eating lifestyle plan
Developed low-sugar and low-calorie versions of a number of their
products
Developed a no-salt, no-sugar high-fibre loaf
Preventing illness and promoting healthy lifestyles to improve population
health
Dietary habits and obesity, including targets and actions to achieve them
Foster Clark Products Ltd.
Golden Harvest Ltd.
Ministry for Health, Elderly and
Community Care
Ministry for Health, Elderly and
Community Care
Netherlands
Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Department
Strategy for the Prevention and Control of
Noncommunicable Diseases in Malta
(2010)
National Statistics Office
Lifestyle Survey 2007
University of Malta
Department of Food Studies and
Environmental Health
Nutrition Policy - "Healthy Nutrition, From
Start to Finish"; Overweight Policy
Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and
Sport
Erasmus University
Dept of Public Health, Determinants of
Health-related Behaviors
Maastricht University
Ministries of Economic Affairs, LNV and
VWA
Nutrition and Toxicology Research Institute
(NUTRIM)
Innovation programme Food and Nutrition Top Institute Food and Nutrition (TIFN)
Research institutes Wageningen UR
Food and Biobased Research
Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en
Milieu (RIVM) (National Institute for Public
Health and the Environment)
Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en
Milieu (RIVM) (National Institute for Public
Health and the Environment)
Centrum voor Preventie en Zorgonderzoek
(Centre for Prevention and Health Services
Research)
Centrum voor Voeding en Gezondheid
(Centre for Nutrition and Health)
Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en
Milieu (RIVM) (National Institute for Public
Health and the Environment)
National Institute for Public Health and the
Environment (RIVM)
Collection of data on weight and height, alcohol consumption and eating
habits such as consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables, and fried foods
Nutrition and obesity; Assessing dietary habits and identifying barriers to a
healthier diet; Intervention aiming to modify dietary behaviour
Enable consumers to achieve healthy dietary patterns by: educating
consumers on making healthy food choices and encouraging the
commercial sector to supply the public with healthier food options
Socio-demographic, psychosocial and environmental predictors of healthrelated behaviours; Develops interventions to promote healthy lifestyles
and studies the effectiveness and implementation of these interventions
Nutritional health benefits and risks focussing on metabolic and chronic
inflammatory diseases
Develop innovative products and technologies that respond to consumer
demands for safe, tasty and healthy foods with regard to major health
concerns such as obesity and metabolic syndrome
Motivation of food choices; the influence of the interior and the assortment
on the food choices among consumers is studied
Healthy and unhealthy lifestyle choices
Collects and analyses data on all aspects of food consumption, food
composition and eating habits in the Netherlands; Assesses dietary
patterns against standards and guidelines; Manages national databases on
food composition (Dutch Food Composition Database) and food
supplements; Conducts literature-based and epidemiological studies on the
relationship between diet and nutrition on lifestyle and on chronic diseases
such as obesity; Quantifies the effects of diet and nutrition on health,
advises on appropriate measures and studies the impact of such measures
Health consequences of diet
32
Country
Institution
The Centre for Specialised Nutrition of
Danone Research
TNO Kwaliteit van Leven (TNO Quality of
Life)
TNO Kwaliteit van Leven (TNO Quality of
Life)
Programme
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Wageningen University
Section Nutrition and Health
Division of Human Nutrition
Healthy Food
Voedingsconcepten die passen in een
gezonde(re) eet- en leefstijl
Innovation programme Food and Nutrition Food & Nutrition Delta (FND)
Programma Gezonde Voeding
TIFN - Nutrition and Health
TIFN – Sensory and structure
Poland
Food and Nutrition Research Institute,
Ministry of Health, Ministry of Science and
Higher Education
Portugal
BIOCANT - Associação de Transferência
de Tecnologia (private)
Centro de Investigação em Actividade
Física, Saúde e Lazer (CIAFEL),
Universidade do Porto
Centro de Investigação em Desporto,
Saúde e Desenvolvimento Humano
(CIDESD), Universidade de Trás-osMontes e Alto Douro
Centro Interdisciplinar de Estudo da
Performance Humana, Faculdade de
Motricidade Humana - Universidade
Técnica de Lisboa
National Programme of prevention
overweight and obesity and chronic non
infectious diseases via improvement of
nutrition and physical activity
Themes/Research areas/Objectives
Complex interaction between nutrition, biological processes and disease
mechanisms in the human body
Overweight/obesity and gut health
Investigate how a healthy diet can contribute and reduce of overweight and
its complications; Develop new concepts and methods to reduce food
intake by stimulating satiety or inhibiting hunger; Investigate the inhibition
of inflammation processes in obesity to prevent chronic disease and
complications of overweight
Determinants and health consequences of obesity
Controlled dietary interventions at the individual level; Observational
studies at population level; Nutrition and Health; Nutrition and
Epidemiology; Sensory Science and Eating Behaviour
Translation of knowledge and generated leads on food & health to concrete
products, processes and services
Increase knowledge how dietary patterns can contribute to the prevention
of diet-related chronic diseases, specifically focussing on low SES,
children and elderly; Increase knowledge how consumers can be actively
encouraged to make a healthy choice regarding dietary patterns;
Determinants of nutritional behaviour
Obesity, metabolic syndrome; Provide the industry partners with leads for
the development of new healthy foods with regard to major health
concerns; Discover and validate molecular biomarkers for the early
detection of metabolic stress in nutrigenomics, to enable the development
of novel food components for dietary management and prevention of
metabolic stress, and ultimately metabolic syndrome
Developing foods that can be used to control food intake by inducing
satiation and increasing the duration of feeling satisfied
Social education of people on role of nutrition and physical activity and their
positive relations on health
EU project ‘Diabetes, Obesity and Medicine’
Research relating obesity to physical activity, focussed on children
Health Research Group
Previous work includes a national study on the influence of sociodemographic factors on the prevalence of childhood obesity
Investigating lifestyle weight management in overweight and obese women
and the impact of continuous contact and structured exercise in long-term
maintenance after weight loss
33
Country
Institution
Concurso de Projectos de Investigação e
Desenvolvimento de Sistemas de
Informação Médica, no Âmbito do Acordo
de Cooperação entre Portugal e a
Harvard Medical School
Faculdade de Ciências da Nutrição e
Alimentação da Universidade do Porto
(FCNAUP)
Grupo UNICER (private)
Programme
Eating Out: Habits, Determinants, and Recommendations for Consumers
and the European Catering Sector
Water with anti-oxidant properties, that claims to reduce the appetite and to
restore energy during high activity
Health determinants, principally on the main causes of diseases related to
environmental, lifestyle and psycho-social factors
Instituto de Medicina Preventiva,
Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de
Lisboa
Instituto Nacional de Recursos Biológicos
(INRB)
Instituto Nacional de Saúde Dr. Ricardo
Jorge (INSA)
Ministry of Health
New University of Lisbon
Portuguese Society for Diabetology
Portuguese Society for Food and Nutrition
Science
Portuguese Society for the Study of
Obesity (SPEO)
SCC -Sociedade Central de Cervejas e
Bebidas, S.A (private)
Technical University of Lisbon
Technical University of Lisbon
University of Minho
University of Lisbon
University of Oporto
University of Oporto
Themes/Research areas/Objectives
Early beginnings - tackling childhood obesity
National Health Plan
ENSP (National Public Health School)
Beneficial effects on health of consuming fish products rich in omega 3
fatty acids, particularly for the prevention of cardiovascular disease and in
the treatment of obesity
Health and disease determinants, cardiovascular diseases, life style impact
on health, gastrointestinal infections, applied nutrition
Epidemiological studies in connection with pre-obesity and obesity and its
associated risk factors; control of diabetes
Childhood obesity
Diabetes
Current status of diet and lifestyle among the Portuguese population
Epidemiology, dietary behaviour, physical activity and medical
complications of obesity. In the National Platform on Obesity and Weigh
Control (CONOCOP) implementing national and regional epidemiological
studies
Water with fibre that claims to help control appetite and weight
CIISA (Interdisciplinary Centre of Research
in Animal Health), Faculty of Veterinary
Medicine
Social Adventure Project, Faculty of
Human Mobility
CIPSI - Centre of Psychology Research,
School of Psychology
Nutrition and Metabolism Unit, IMM
(Institute for Molecular Medicine), Faculty
of Medicine
Faculty of Medicine, of the University of
Oporto (FMUP)
ISPUP (Institute of Public Health)
Lycopene and oleic acid related to inflammatory and aterotrombogenic
biomarkers in obesity and metabolic syndrome
EU FP7 project child/ adolescent eating patterns & weight status
Prevention/treatment of eating disorders and obesity, epidemiology of
dietary behaviour
Nutrition and dietary related diseases (e.g. obesity, malnutrition, diabetes)
Obesity; diet and diabetes
Nutritional epidemiology, obesity
34
Country
Institution
Science & Technology Foundation (FCT)
Programme
FCT Projectos de I&D (R&D Projects) 2008
Romania
Banat’s University of Agricultural
Sciences and Veterinary Medicine
Financed by Norwegian Government and
Romanian Ministry of Public Health
Food Science and Technology
Ministry of Agriculture
Ministry of Public Health
Ministry of Public Health
National Authority for Scientific
Natural research SRL (private)
N&V ’96 Impex SRL (private)
PROPLANTA SA (private)
Research Department
Academy of Agricultural and Forestry
Sciences
Research Centre of Biotechnology and
Engineering Science-Valhi University from
Targoviste
Romanian Academy
SC HOFIGAL SA (private)
SN PLAFAR SA (private)
The Society of Nutrition
University of Medicine and Pharmacy
“Victor Babes’
Slovakia
Themes/Research areas/Objectives
Prevalence and severity of fatty liver in morbid obesity: correlation and
mechanisms related with the role of ectopic fat in insulin resistance; Early
development of obesity and the metabolic syndrome; Eating habits in
preschool children: a longitudinal approach to the identification of
determinants and effects on body composition; Peripheral body fat,
lifestyles and adipokines
Food and diet related diseases; Dietary food patterns and health
Increasing access to the services of
primary medical prevention for children and
teenagers in Romania
Institute of Food Bioresources
Department of Food Hygiene and Nutrition
– Institute of Public Health
National Health Program 2007
National Plan for Research Development
and Innovation for the period 2007-2013
Prevention for children; healthy nutrition and physical activity
Faculty of Food Science
Food and nutrition policy; Food and diet related diseases; Dietary food
patterns and health
Research Department
Petru Poni” Institute of Macromolecular
Chemistry
Food and nutrition policy; Food and diet related diseases; Dietary food
patterns and health
Nutritional Clinical Trials
National Programme for Obesity
Prevention
Programme for Nutritional Sanitation
Slovenia
-
-
Spain
CSIC, Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior
de Investigaciones Científicas
Instituto de Salud Carlos III, ISCIII
Food Science and Technology
CIBER projects Biomedical Research
Networking Centres
Nutrition, production of food for specific diseases: diabetes
Food and nutrition policy; Food and diet related diseases; Dietary food
patterns and health
Diabetes and nutrition diseases
Ideas programme: basic and clinic research into cardiovascular diseases,
cancer, diabetes, obesity
Dietary patterns and health
Food and diet related diseases
Nutrigenomics; dietary food patterns and health
Food and nutrition policy
Food and diet related diseases
Food and diet related diseases
Guideline for a healthy diet
Food and diet related diseases; Dietary food patterns and health
Prevent overweight and obesity of children, to stop the increasing number
and reduce number of people suffering from overweight and obesity
Enhance nutritional status and in direct dependency the health of
inhabitants of the Slovak Republic and prevention of different lifestylerelated diseases
Implications of nutrition on human health, in order to improve health and
prevent the appearance of certain nutrition-related diseases
Pathophysiology of obesity and nutrition; Diabetes and associated
metabolic disorders
35
Country
Institution
Instituto de Salud Carlos III, ISCIII
Ministry of Health and Consumption,
Spanish Agency for Food Safety and
Nutrition
Ministry of Health and Social Policy
Ministry of Health and Social Policy,
Ministry of Education, Regional ministries
of health and education
University of Granada
University of Valencia
Sweden
Antidiabetic Food Centre at Lund
University
Good Food Practice (Centre for clinical
tests of food)
Gothenburg University
Gothenburg University
Gothenburg University
Programme
Health Strategic Action. Subprogram of
Health Research projects
Strategy for Nutrition, Physical Activity, and
Obesity Prevention
Total Diet Study
PERSEO programme (Pilot Programme in
Schools for Health, Physical Exercise and
against Obesity
Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology
Department of preventive medicine and
public health
Food, Consumption and Health
WHO-Europe Programme for the
compilation and evaluation of actions in
Spain in the area of obesity prevention
VINN Excellence Center programme
(VINNOVA) 2007-2017
Department for food and nutrition, and
sport science
FAS – Project funding 2007-2013
VR - Project funding 2009-2011
Gothenburg University, Sahlgrenska
University Hospital
Karolinska Institutet
Sahlgrenska Academy
Lund University
Faculty of Engineering
Lund University
Formas 2010-2012
Lund University
Functional Food Science Centre
National Food Administration
Probi (Swedish research company that
develops probiotics for both Functional
Food and Dietary Supplements)
Skåne Food Innovation Network (SFIN)
VINNVÄXT (VINNOVA) – Innovationer i
Gränsland
Themes/Research areas/Objectives
Diabetes and obesity
Raising awareness of the population about the problem that obesity means
for the health and promoting all the initiatives that contribute to incorporate
healthy lifestyle in the population especially in children and young people
mainly through a healthy diet and regular practise of physical exercise
National Survey on Food Consumption
Promoting the incorporation of healthy lifestyle habits and stimulating the
regular physical practice between schoolchild, to prevent obesity and other
illness
Nutrition and metabolism in childhood
Nutrigenomics in obesity
Food design aimed at reducing risk factors for lifestyle related diseases,
such as obesity, age-related diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Help companies to investigate the effect of food on health
Children’s lifestyle and obesity, food commercial dedicated to children and
the relation of food and genetics on coronary diseases and obesity
Children’s lifestyle and obesity: Food commercial dedicated to children
Determinants and health consequences of overweight in Children from
India- Extension of a European multicenter study, IDEFICS
Obesity
Endocrinology and metabolism that relates to many diseases such as
diabetes, obesity
Relation between food composition and its properties to human health,
where special focus is on developing foods that inhibits bowel diseases
and insulin resistance
Green leaf membranes as target molecules for regulation of appetite and
energy balance
Lifestyle related diseases, such as obesity and age-related diabetes, to
gain knowledge that will work as a basis for food design aimed at reducing
risk factors for these diseases
Fair practices in the food trade (i.e. labelling); Healthy eating habits
Metabolic syndrome (including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and
obesity)
Food and health/functional foods; International marketing to consumer
36
Country
Switzerland
Institution
The Swedish Food Federation, Svensk
Dagligvaruhandel (business organisation
for groceries)
Tvärvetenskapligt forskningsprogram för
livsmedel (Formas, VINNOVA, Li, SLF,
SDH)
Umeå University
Programme
Uppsala University
Department for clinical nutrition and
metabolism
Formas – Multidisciplinary research 20072012
Formas – Multidisciplinary research 20082010
VINNOVA 2008-2013
Basel University Hospital
Decanat Faculty of Medicine Universite
de Geneve CMU, University Childrens
Hospital, University Hospital Zurich
Federal Office of Public Health
Federal Office of Public Health
Federal Office of Public Health
Federal Office of Public Health
Federal Office of Public Health
Federal Office of Public Health
FIAL (Federation of Swiss agro-food
Industries)
Funded by FP7
Themes/Research areas/Objectives
Programme for health and nutrition statements concerning labelling and
marketing of foods
Food and consumer; Food and health; Safe food; Food quality and food
production; The Food value-chain; Sustainable food production
COST (European Cooperation in Science
and Technology) Action BM0602
Analyse Monitoring-Projekte im
Themenbereich Ernährung und Bewegung
in der Schweiz (Analysis of monitoring
projects related to nutrition and physical
activity in Switzerland)
Background on Food Habits
Betreuung und Aktualisierung der
Indikatorensammlung Ernährung und
Bewegung (Supervision and Actualisation
of the Collection of Indicators Nutrition and
Physical Activity) 2009-2011
Data Analysis of the Blood Pressure
Campaign
Indikatoren-Sammlung Ernährung und
Bewegung (Collection of Indicators
Nutrition and Physical Activity) 2008-2009
National Programme on Diet and Physical
Activity 2008-2012
European energy balance research to
prevent excessive weight gain among
Metabolism, including obesity-related diseases; Paediatric nutrition mapping the molecular mechanism in which obesity leads to serious public
diseases
Brain’s appetite regulation and the digestive tracts absorption of nutrition
Sustainable Eating Children´s Way. Promoting healthy food habits among
children 10-12
Children as co-researchers for healthy food
Effect of lifestyle and food on obesity for children and development and
validation of new innovative methods for investigating children’s
Nutrition and adiposity; Appetite and satiation
Adipose Tissue: A Key Target for Prevention of the Metabolic Syndrome;
Advance knowledge on the pathogenesis and prevention of obesity and the
specific role of adipose tissue in the development of the metabolic
syndrome
Critical view on monitoring projects related to nutrition and physical activity
in Switzerland
Consumer behaviour, decision behaviour, food habits
Indicators related to nutrition and physical activity of monitoring projects in
Switzerland
Blood pressure in connection with the weight and the food and physical
activity behaviour of the Swiss population
Indicators related to nutrition and physical activity of monitoring projects in
Switzerland
Public health and overweight; National strategy for encouraging people in
Switzerland to eat a balanced diet.
Nutrition and obesity
Promoting healthy behaviour in children and adolescents
37
Country
Institution
Geneva University Hospital
Geneva University of Applied Sciences of
Health
School of Life Sciences and Facility
Management – Zurich University of
Applied Sciences
SGE (Swiss Society for Nutrition)
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
Zurich/ ETH
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology/
EPFL
Swiss Food Research
Programme
youth (ENERGY)
Psychology and food addiction
Obesity and nutritional behaviour
HECTOR: Eating out - Habits,
Determinants and Recommendations for
Consumers and the European Catering
Sector
Department of Agriculture and Food
Sciences; Institute of Food, Nutrition and
Health
Laboratory of Integrative and Systems
Physiology - Nestlé Chair in Energy
Metabolism
Food for Life Switzerland technology
platform
Swiss Redcross
Migration and healthy nutrition
Swiss Society for Nutrition on behalf of
the FOPH
University of Bern
Healthy Choice Label
University of Fribourg, funded by the
German Research Foundation
University of Fribourg, funded by the
German Research Foundation
Binge Eating Disorder in Childhood
University of Fribourg:
University of Zurich
Vaud University Hospital / Lausanne
University
Zurich University Hospital
Zurich University of Applied Sciences
Institute Food Technology
Themes/Research areas/Objectives
Institute of Social and Prevention Medicine
Internet-based guided Self-Help for
Overweight and Obese Patients with Binge
Eating Disorder: A Multicenter,
Randomized-Controlled Trial (INTERBED)
Department of Medicine/Physiology,
Department of Psychology
Institute of Social and Prevention Medicine
Dept of Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Biology
and Medicine
NutriScope
Enhance knowledge on eating out through evaluating out-of-home dietary
pattern and identifying practices applied in European catering enterprises,
including SME's to develop and evaluate strategies and concrete measures
for promoting healthy out-of-home dietary choices among European
consumers to exploit the use of data on out-of-home food expenditure
Inform the population about healthy nutrition
Prevention of diseases related to nutrition; Physiology and pathopysiology
of the neuro-endocrine regulation of food intake (incl. obesity and
diabetes); Consumer behaviour
how regulatory proteins act as sensors for molecules of nutritional,
metabolic or pharmacological origin, and translate this into altered gene
expression and protein patterns affecting metabolic function
Food for a healthy lifestyle (offering specific customer sectors appropriate
food with the clear aim of ensuring that the easy choice is the healthy one
for consumers)
Prevention in the field of healthy nutrition and healthy body weight for the
target group migrants
Inventory of labels, feasibility study how to develop, introduce and manage
a ‘healthy choice label’ in Switzerland
Lifestyles and healthy behaviour; Health literacy related to nutritional
behaviour
Psychosocial factors in the etiology, maintenance, and natural course of
binge eating in 8-13 year old children
Efficacy of an internet-based guided self-help program (GSH-I)
Cardiovascular and metabolic effects of soft drinks; Influence of the
nutrition on body composition; Binge eating disorder and psychology
Analyses on obesity and other nutritional problems in Switzerland
Nutrition deficit after bariatric surgery; Nutrition and metabolism; Nutrition
and physical activity
Pathophysiological effect of fructose; Nutrition and lipid metabolism
Implementation of measurements related to nutritional policy; Prevention of
disease related to nutrition; Nutritional value declarations and influence of
nutritional behaviour
Promotion of healthy nutrition to reduce health expenditures related to
nutrition; Optimizing parameters determining quality, safety and health
along the food chain, from “farm to fork”
38
Country
Turkey
Institution
Universities and public institutes
UK
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences
Research Council
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences
Research Council/Diet and Health
Research Industry Club
Bristol University
British Heart Foundation
Cambridge MRC units
Department of Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs (Defra)
Department of Health
Department of Health
Economic and Social Research Council
Programme
Support Programme for Scientific and
Technological Research Projects
Themes/Research areas/Objectives
Epidemiologic Study on Diabetic, Hypertension, Obesity and
Endocrinologic Diseases
Psychology of food choice; Maintenance of health through diet
Improved understanding of healthier diets
Understanding the basis of taste, texture and flavour at a fundamental level
to enable reductions in food components e.g. salt, sugar and fat levels
without adversely effecting consumer response; Understanding the
influence of food structure on human nutrition and physiology to enable
foods to be designed with precise nutritional and physiological properties to
enable a healthy diet; Understanding the methodology of satiety and
investigating the role of food constituents, particularly minor food
components, on energy intake via the impact on satiety
Food and behaviour
Department of Experimental Psychology
Mapping obesity research
Centre for Obesity and Related Metabolic
Disease
The Food Strategy 2030
Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: A CrossGovernment strategy
Reviews of evidence on childhood obesity
Diet/Behaviour Food safety and hygiene
regulation and governance
Food Standards Agency
Food Standards Agency Standing
Committee on Nutrition
London School of Hygiene & Tropical
Medicine
Medical Research Council
Influence of early life nutrition on later
chronic disease risk
Nutritional Group
Biomedical Research Unit for Nutrition,
Diet & Lifestyle
National Obesity Observatory
National Prevention Research Initiative
How consumption patterns evolve and what they indicate about future
patterns; Food behaviors and information
Food behaviours and information; Dietary surveys, food acceptability and
choice; Healthy eating advice; Food choice inequalities; Obesity-related
work to improve food choice and develop dietary recommendations (may
include dietary and behaviour change interventions to prevent unhealthy
weight gain)
Nutrition related chronic diseases
Strategic Review of Nutrition and Energy
Balance
Medical Research Council
National Institute for Health Research
Causes and prevention of diabetes and obesity; How obesity is related to
insulin resistance, diabetes and cardiovascular disease
Policies: Reverse the trend in diet-related disease, including obesity;
Improving access for socially excluded groups; Consumers adopt healthy,
sustainable diets; Clear information and advice on healthy and sustainable
diets
Centre for Public Health Research
Excellence in Diet and Physical Activity
Research priorities: Living a long and healthy life: Genetics and disease;
Life course perspective; Lifestyles affecting health; Environment and health
Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of ill-health related to nutrition, diet
and lifestyle
Surveillance data for obesity, develops data presentation tools, and
undertakes evaluation of weight management interventions
Establish links between lifestyle factors and disease to help individuals
change behaviour
39
Country
Institution
National Prevention Research Initiative
Programme
Public Health Research programme
National Prevention Research Initiative
Newcastle University
Reading University
Rowett Institute, University of Aberdeen
Scottish Public Health Network
Southampton
Human Nutrition Centre
Human Nutrition Group
University College London
Health Behaviour Research Centre
University College London
University of Glasgow, Division of
Developmental Medicine
University of Leeds
University of Surrey
University of Surrey
University of Ulster
Obesity Strategy and Routemap
Epidemiology Resource Centre, Institute of
Human Nutrition
Human Nutrition
Biological Psychology
Food, Consumer Behaviour and Health
Research Centre
Food, Consumer Behaviour and Health
Research Centre
Centre for Food & Health Human Nutrition
Research
Themes/Research areas/Objectives
Evaluates whether the Royal Horticultural Society’s (RHS) ‘Campaign for
School Gardening’ increases intake of fruit and vegetables in primary
school children
Risk factors (including obesity) of chronic heart disease, cancer and
diabetes
Public health nutrition
Food and dietary components related to cardiovascular disease, obesity
Obesity and metabolic health
Environmental determinants of musculoskeletal, cardiovascular and
metabolic disease throughout the lifecourse; Developmental origins of
health and disease; Metabolic syndrome; Nutrition and public health
Healthy lifestyles across social groups; theory and methodology in food
choice research
Nutrition in relation to body composition, metabolism
Childhood energy balance; Diet and chronic disease; Gut, food and
metabolism
Feeding behaviour and appetite control
consumer attitudes, perceptions and behaviour and the impact of society
economics and management within the food sector and its impact on
consumer choice
Health psychology areas including diabetes, obesity
Factors that affect the amount of food that an individual consumes,
including: portion size; energy density; and, satiety.
40
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