Europe’s health ministers vow to tackle obesity

European health ministers have pledged to consider using economic tools such as taxes and subsidies to tackle the growing obesity crisis in Europe.

Ministers from the 53 member states in the World Health Organization’s European region met in Austria and signed the Vienna Declaration on Nutrition and Noncommunicable Diseases,1 promising decisive, concerted action in the fight against obesity.

The health ministers made the pledge at a WHO conference on nutrition and non-communicable diseases, where they vowed to improve monitoring of obesity and to act to tackle its root causes. They also promised measures to inform and empower their citizens to make healthy choices in a region where 50% of residents are overweight or obese.

João Breda, programme manager for …