scholarly journals Research to Support the Development of Front-of-Package Labeling Regulations for Food Products in the Americas: Methods, Tools, and Procedures

2021 ◽  

This publication explores the subject of front-of-package labeling (FOPL) for food products as a means to help combat the trend toward unhealthy eating. It analyzes the methods, tools, and procedures of research into FOPL with a view to enhancing its role in regulations governing food products in the Region of the Americas. The publication makes recommendations relating to FOPL research – how it should be conducted, how results should be communicated, how FOPL schemes should be selected, and what the priorities should be. It also contains useful annexes that include, for example, a focus group discussion guide, a questionnaire, and a protocol for FOPL research. The Americas is the region of the world with the highest prevalence of overweight and obesity in the world. In 2016, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) were responsible for 78% of all deaths in the Region. Thirty-four percent of these NCD-related deaths occurred prematurely in people between the ages of 30 and 69 years. This implies that NCDs have a huge economic impact on societies. Unhealthy eating is the main modifiable factor that is driving this situation. In particular, consumption of ultra-processed products and of processed products that are nutrient poor and energy-dense and contain excessive levels of nutrients associated with NCDs has been identified as a main contributor to the epidemic of overweight and obesity. From a public health perspective, the efficacy and effectiveness of FOPL labeling will mainly depend on its ability to encourage consumers to make healthier food choices and to reduce the purchase and consumption of products that impair diets and health.

Author(s):  
Saiprasad Rathod

life style disorders are defined as the disorders linked with the way of people live their life. this is commonly caused by alcohol, drugs and smoking as well as lack of physical activity and unhealthy eating. Diseases that mostly have an effect on our lifestyle are the heart disease, stroke, obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus. overweight and obesity are the fifth leading risk of global death, worldwide obesity has more than doubled since 1980. In 2014, more than 1.9 million adult, 18 yrs. and older, were overweight, of these over 600 million men and women were obese. Due to faulty lifestyle and diet pattern the incidence of obesity is increasing day by day all over the world. according to Ayurveda obesity also known as sthoulya or medoroga. according to Ayurveda obesity can lead to many life style disorders. Ayurveda has a great importance to reduce risk of lifestyle disorders. There are so many concepts which will reduce the risk of life style disorders. Acc. To swasthavritta there are so many pathya aahar kalpna, various type of aasanas and yoga described thus, above factors has wonderful preventive and curative effect on obesity.


2021 ◽  
pp. 57-72
Author(s):  
Anna Peeters ◽  
Tim Lobstein

Overweight and obesity is a rapidly increasing global problem, impacting population health and healthcare systems. The World Health Organization prioritized the need to tackle obesity in its 2012 Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases 2013–2020 followed by its establishment of a Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity in 2015. This chapter analyses the problem of obesity from a public health perspective. It begins by considering definitions of overweight and obesity for adults and children, including the designation of obesity as a disease by many national and international organizations. It then describes the global trends for overweight and obesity, noting the disparities that exist in these trends and considering future projections. The fourth section discusses the financial and social consequences of overweight and obesity, and the fifth section explores in detail the many interacting causes of overweight and obesity. Finally, public health solutions to the global obesity problem are explored, highlighting the roles of the various potential contributors including civil society, commercial operators, and government at all levels.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (16) ◽  
pp. 65-71
Author(s):  
Miriam Selene Hernández Medina

Changes in nutrition and population are intimately related in several ways. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), since 1997, overweight and obesity have been recognized as public health problems, both in developed and developing countries, reaching epidemic proportions worldwide, each year around 2.8 million people die because of them. Overweight and obesity are the starting point for pathologies such as the metabolic syndrome, arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia and coronary heart disease. Mexico has been immersed in this epidemic, with the information provided by the National Nutrition and Health Surveys since 1988 it has been possible to document the permanent tendency to increase Overweight and Obesity. It has been widely documented that the increase in obesity throughout the world is closely linked to food policies, understood as one of the structural social determinants of health. Healthy public policies should be formulated to promote the prevention and control of Chronic Noncommunicable Diseases and reorient health systems so that they meet the needs of people suffering from excess body weight. The objective of this article is to know the factors that have driven the generation of programs, strategies and public policies around the epidemic of Overweigth and Obesity in order to ensure its control and prevention in the Mexican population.


Author(s):  
Florencia Koncke ◽  
Cecilia Toledo ◽  
Christian Damian Beron ◽  
Iael Klaczko ◽  
Alicia Carriquiry ◽  
...  

Unhealthy diet is an important health problem in the region of the Americas, and Uruguay does not escape this reality. Nutritional problems in Uruguayan school-age children are overweight and obesity. Caloric intake is excessive for 60% of children and 28% of calories come from ultra-processed products (UPP) [CODICEN 2021] [MIDES 2020) (Köncke, Toledo, 2021). In 2018, an evaluation of food intake was conducted in a representative sample of public schools in the city of Montevideo. Food and preparations were categorized according to the NOVA system, later they were analyzed according to the Pan American Health Oganization nutrient profile model (PAHO NPM). Only 0.52% of children consumed exclusively natural foods, unprocessed, minimally processed or culinary ingredients. Twenty-five percent of children consumed ≥ 4 products categorized with excessive content of free sugars, total fat or saturated fat according to the PAHO NPM; in the case of excessive sodium this was 40%. In general, children who included products with excessive free sugars, sodium or saturated fat in their diet exceeded the limits established by PAHO and as a result their diet is of poorer nutritional quality compared to children who did not consume such products.


Author(s):  
Sri Winarti ◽  
Yuni Ningsih

Gunung Anyar Tambak is one of the villages that is located adjacent to the UPN "Veteran" campus in East Java. Most (2/3) of the Gunung Anyar Tambak area is the pond area, which has the main yield is milkfish. Besides being sold in fresh form, milkfish from ponds from Gunung Anyar Tambak are also processed into a variety of processed products including shredded, crackers, soft thorns and milkfish “sapit”. Milkfish “Sapit” is a processed milkfish which is unique in its serving. The milkfish are clamped using bamboo stems and then processed using a choice of spices that make a distinctive taste in this dish. Processing by burning, causing a distinctive aroma that is not forgotten. Barokah is one of the community groups of “sapit” milkfish processing in RW I of Gunung Anyar Tambak Village which consists of 6 people. Chairman of UD. Barokan is Hj's. Khasibah, explained that most of the milkfish produced are only fulfilling orders from the surrounding area and orders from outside the city to be used as souvenirs typical of Surabaya. From observations and interviews it is known that the problem in processing milkfish is a very simple packaging that is a very thin plastic bag that is not closed. The second problem is that the packaging has no labeling at all, even though the label can identify the identity of the product in the package. The importance of labels on food products in addition to being the identity of the packaged product is also a communication between producers and consumers. Therefore a very absolute label must be given to the marketed food products. Training has been conducted on packaging and labeling milkfish “sapit” in UD. BAROKAH, Gunung Anyar Tambak, Surabaya. Before being packed with a vacuum packer, milkfish saplings are first dried in a cabinet dryer for 3 hours at 60°C. Labeling on milkfish packaging is in accordance with the law on food labeling on primary (plastic) and secondary (carton) packaging. In addition to providing training, our team also donates dryers and Vacuum Sealers.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Fabbian ◽  
Emanuele Di Simone ◽  
Sara Dionisi ◽  
Noemi Giannetta ◽  
Luigi De Gennaro ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Western world health care systems have been trying to improve their efficiency and effectiveness in order to respond properly to the aging of the population and the epidemic of noncommunicable diseases. Errors in drugs administration is an actual important issue due to different causes. OBJECTIVE Aim of this study is to measure interest in online seeking medical errors information online related to interest in risk management and shift work. METHODS We investigated Google Trends® for popular search relating to medical errors, risk management and shift work. Relative search volumes (RSVs) were evaluated for the period November 2008-November 2018 all around the world. A comparison between RSV curves related to medical errors, risk management and shift work was carried out. Then we compared world to Italian search. RESULTS RSVs were persistently higher for risk management than for medication errors during the study period (mean RSVs 74 vs. 51%) and RSVs were stably higher for medical errors than shift work during the study period (mean RSVs 51 vs 23%). In Italy, RSVs were much lower than the rest of the world, and RSVs for medication errors during the study period were negligible. Mean RSVs for risk management and shift work were 3 and 25%, respectively. RSVs related to medication errors and clinical risk management were correlated (r=0.520, p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS Google search query volumes related to medication errors, risk management and shift work are different. RSVs for risk management are higher, are correlated with medication errors, and the relationship with shift work appears to be even worse, by analyzing the entire world. In Italy such a relationship completely disappears, suggesting that it needs to be emphasized by health care authorities.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 976
Author(s):  
Fiorenzo Moscatelli ◽  
Francesco Sessa ◽  
Anna Valenzano ◽  
Rita Polito ◽  
Vincenzo Monda ◽  
...  

At the end of 2019, a new coronavirus (COVID-19) appeared on the world scene, which mainly affects the respiratory system, causing pneumonia and multi-organ failure, and, although it starts with common symptoms such as shortness of breath and fever, in about 2–3% of cases it leads to death. Unfortunately, to date, no specific treatments have been found for the cure of this virus and, therefore, it is advisable to implement all possible strategies in order to prevent infection. In this context, it is important to better define the role of all behaviors, in particular nutrition, in order to establish whether these can both prevent infection and improve the outcome of the disease in patients with COVID-19. In the literature, it is widely shown that states of malnutrition, overweight, and obesity negatively affect the immune system, leading to viral infections, and several studies have shown that nutritional interventions can act as immunostimulators, helping to prevent viral infections. Even if several measures, such as the assumption of a specific diet regimen, the use of dietary supplements, and other similar interventions, are promising for the prevention, management, and recovery of COVID-19 patients, it is important to highlight that strong data from randomized clinical trials are needed to support any such assumption. Considering this particular scenario, we present a literature review addressing several important aspects related to diet and SARS-CoV-2 infection, in order to highlight the importance of diet and supplementation in prevention and management of, as well as recovery from COVID-19.


2021 ◽  
pp. 097275312199850
Author(s):  
Vivek Podder ◽  
Raghuram Nagarathna ◽  
Akshay Anand ◽  
Patil S. Suchitra ◽  
Amit Kumar Singh ◽  
...  

Rationale: India has a high prevalence of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), which can be lowered by regular physical activity. To understand this association, recent population data is required which is representative of all the states and union territories of the country. Objective: We aimed to investigate the patterns of physical activity in India, stratified by zones, body mass index (BMI), urban, rural areas, and gender. Method: We present the analysis of physical activity status from the data collected during the phase 1 of a pan-India study. This ( Niyantrita Madhumeha Bharata 2017) was a multicenter pan-India cluster sampled trial with dual objectives. A survey to identify all individuals at a high risk for diabetes, using a validated instrument called the Indian Diabetes Risk Score (IDRS), was followed by a two-armed randomized yoga-based lifestyle intervention for the primary prevention of diabetes. The physical activity was scored as per IDRS (vigorous exercise or strenuous at work = 0, moderate exercise at home/work = 10, mild exercise at home/work = 20, no exercise = 30). This was done in a selected cluster using a mobile application. A weighted prevalence was calculated based on the nonresponse rate and design weight. Results: We analyzed the data from 2,33,805 individuals; the mean age was 41.4 years (SD 13.4). Of these, 50.6% were females and 49.4% were males; 45.8% were from rural areas and 54% from urban areas. The BMI was 24.7 ± 4.6 kg/m 2 . Briefly, 20% were physically inactive and 57% of the people were either inactive or mildly active. 21.2% of females were found physically inactive, whereas 19.2% of males were inactive. Individuals living in urban localities were proportionately more inactive (21.7% vs. 18.8%) or mildly active (38.9% vs. 34.8%) than the rural people. Individuals from the central (29.6%) and south zones (28.6%) of the country were also relatively inactive, in contrast to those from the northwest zone (14.2%). The known diabetics were found to be physically inactive (28.3% vs. 19.8%) when compared with those unaware of their diabetic status. Conclusion: 20% and 37% of the population in India are not active or mildly active, respectively, and thus 57% of the surveyed population do not meet the physical activity regimen recommended by the World Health Organization. This puts a large Indian population at risk of developing various NCDs, which are being increasingly reported to be vulnerable to COVID-19 infections. India needs to adopt the four strategic objectives recommended by the World Health Organization for reducing the prevalence of physical inactivity.


Author(s):  
James V. Lucey

In December 2019, clinicians and academics from the disciplines of public health and psychiatry met in Dublin at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), to restate their shared commitment to population health. The purpose of this review is to bring our discussion to a wider audience. The meeting could not have been more timely. Six weeks later, the COVID-19 emergency emerged in China and within 12 months it had swept the world. This paper, the contents of which were presented at that meeting in December recommended that future healthcare would be guided more by public health perspectives and informed by an understanding of health economics, population health and the lessons learned by psychiatry in the 20th century. Ultimately two issues are at stake in 21st century healthcare: the sustainability of our healthcare systems and the maintenance of public support for population health. We must plan for the next generation of healthcare. We need to do this now since it is clear that COVID-19 marks the beginning of 21st century medicine.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document