Plant-based diets and their impact on health, sustainability and the environment

I'm happy to have had the opportunity to lead the development of this WHO Europe Factsheet on plant-based diets. In the WHO European Region, more and more people are shifting towards plant-based diets for reasons relating to health, as well as to ethical considerations about climate change and animal welfare. In some countries changes indietary …

Slide to order: a food systems approach to meal delivery apps

Fresh off the press! Our newest WHO European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases report is out! Meal delivery apps (‎MDAs)‎ are a rapidly growing part of the digital food environment in the WHO European Region. The implications of this multibillion Euro sector on health, nutrition, environment and society at large are …

Future steps to tackle obesity

Join us on 29 June for the “Future steps to tackle obesity – digital innovations into policy and actions” conference. This conference is co-organized by WHO/Europe and the Portuguese Ministry of Health. A major part of preventing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is the capacity to develop a structural change in food environments. The widespread use of …

Safe and healthy food in traditional food markets in the WHO European Region

I contributed to this technical report that contains guidance on the promotion of safe and healthy food in traditional markets within the WHO European Region, targeting all stakeholders from policy-makers to market workers. The report outlines the main guiding principles of a safe and healthy traditional food market and proposes a stepwise approach to the …

Healthy and Sustainable Diets in the WHO European Region

I am proud to be a part of the team working on healthy and sustainable diets at the WHO European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases The food system is in a constant state of evolution, with consumer preferences, production systems and policies shifting over time. Public health systems are also under …

Intake and adequacy of the vegan diet

Together with colleagues from the WHO NCDs Office and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, we examined important questions about the nutritional intake and adequacy of the vegan diet. Our systematic review was published in Clinical Nutrition in December 2020. Background Vegan diets, where animal- and all their by-products are excluded from the diet, have gained …

New paper: Disrupted food systems in the WHO European region

A threat or opportunity for healthy and sustainable food and nutrition? Dietary health and sustainability are inextricably linked. Food systems that are not sustainable often fail to provide the amount or types of food needed to ensure population health. The ongoing pandemic threatens to exacerbate malnutrition, and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). In our recent paper, we …