PHA-Exchange> WHO AND FAO ANNOUNCE GLOBAL INITIATIVE TO PROMOTE CONSUMPTION OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

[Claudio]

> > WHO AND FAO ANNOUNCE GLOBAL INITIATIVE TO PROMOTE CONSUMPTION OF FRUIT
AND VEGETABLES
> >
> > Low fruit and vegetable intake a key risk factor for conditions such as
> > heart disease, cancer and obesity, but supply needs to be improved to
meet
> > global needs
> >
> > Geneva - World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Food and Agriculture
> > Organization (FAO) announced today a unified approach to promote greater
> > consumption of fruit and vegetables.
> >
> > Low fruit and vegetable intake is estimated to cause some 2.7 million
> > deaths each year, and was among the top 10 risk factors contributing to
> > mortality, according to the World Health Report 2002. The announcement
was
> > made in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the annual meeting of the WHO Global
> > Forum on Noncommunicable Disease (NCD) Prevention and Control.
> >
> > "There is strong and growing evidence that sufficient consumption of
> > fruits and vegetables helps prevent many diseases and promotes good
> > health, but large parts of the world's population consume too little of
> > these,"
> >
"FAO faces the challenge to increase worldwide awareness of the
> > health benefits of increased fruit and vegetable consumption. To
> > effectively promote more consumption of fruit and vegetables, prevailing
> > diets need to be more systematically assessed for their nutrition and
> > health implications."
> >
 "Accelerated national initiatives are required to produce
> > and efficiently market more affordable horticulture products using less
> > pesticide and with fewer losses in the post harvest handling"
> >
> > Noncommunicable Diseases account for almost 60 per cent of global
deaths,
> > and 45 per cent of the global burden of disease. Unhealthy diet,
together
> > with physical inactivity and tobacco use, are among the key preventable
> > risk factors for NCDs. Sufficient daily intake of fruit and vegetables
> > could help prevent major NCDs such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2
> > diabetes, obesity and certain cancers.
> >
> > The joint fruit and vegetable promotion effort is being developed within
> > the framework of the Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and
> > Health. This effort is being developed in collaboration with other
global
> > partners, including national "5-a-day" type multi-stakeholder
> > organizations, which promote fruit and vegetable consumption.
> >
> > A recently published report of a Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on
> > Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases recommends the
> > intake of a minimum of 400g of fruit and vegetables per day (excluding
> > starchy tubers such as potatoes) for the prevention of chronic diseases
> > including heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes and obesity. Eating a
> > wide variety of fruit and vegetables helps ensure an adequate intake of
> > most micronutrients, dietary fibres and a host of beneficial
non-nutrient
> > substances, say the two UN agencies. Increased fruit and vegetable
> > consumption can also help displace excessive consumption of foods high
in
> > fats, sugars or salt. However, according to the FAO statistical
database,
> > the total supply of fruit and vegetables is far below the intake minimum
> > target in many countries, especially in Asia, Africa and in Eastern and
> > Central Europe.
> >
> > Low fruit and vegetable intake is estimated to cause about 31 per cent
of
> > ischaemic heart disease and 11 per cent of stroke worldwide. The WHO
> > International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) estimates that the
> > preventable per centage of cancer due to low fruit and vegetable intake
> > ranges from 5-12 per cent for all cancers, and up to 20-30 per cent for
> > upper gastrointestinal tract cancers.
> >
> > The joint fruit and vegetable promotion effort has four specific
> > objectives:
> > * To increase the overall awareness of the role of fruit and
> > vegetables in preventing NCD;
> > * To increase fruit and vegetable consumption through essential public
> > health and agricultural action;
> > * To encourage and support the development and implementation of
> > national fruit and vegetable promotion programmes, which are
sustainable,
> > comprehensive, and which engage all sectors;
> > * To support research in relevant areas and develop the human
> > resources required to design and implement fruit and vegetable promotion
> > programmes.