Diet and nutrition play a major role in health and disease. A ‘poor’ diet can mean many things: it may refer to the over-consumption of food, a diet low in dietary fibre or complex carbohydrates, or high in salt, fat, or sugar. Eating a poor diet contributes significantly to the risk of developing a number of chronic and fatal conditions, including stroke, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, some forms of cancer, and obesity. The Department of Health has estimated that a poor diet – particularly one that is low in fruit and vegetables – may contribute to the development of a third of all cancers.
The Foresight Report on obesity, published in October 2007 by the Government Office for Science indicated that on current trends nearly 60 per cent of the UK population will be obese by 2050 - that is almost two out of three in the population. If this trend continues, millions of people will experience deteriorating health and a lower quality of life.
Persuading people to eat a healthy, balanced diet is therefore an important means of improving the nation’s health and reducing the incidence of premature death and disability.
In January 2008 the Department of Health published a cross-government strategy for England called Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives to help people lead healthier lives. The strategy is designed to bring together employers, individuals and communities to promote children's health and healthy food, to build physical activity into peoples’ lives, to support health at work and to provide incentives more widely to promote health. Progress reports were published in April 2009 and in March 2010. Also published in March 2010 was a progress report on developing the evidence base necessary to tackle obesity.
The CIEH is actively engaged in supporting the Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives strategy. Recognising that tackling obesity and promoting healthy eating is high on the public health agenda, the CIEH is working to support the need for improvement. It does this by publishing reports, introducing toolkits, supporting healthy eating awards and generally seeking to identify areas where environmental health practitioners (EHPs) can develop and promote interventions.