Helping to promote healthy diets and lifestyles: the role of the food industry

In order to be successful, public health nutrition strategies require the active collaboration of all stakeholders in the promotion of healthy diet and lifestyle patterns. The food industry plays an important role both in providing products that meet consumers' needs in terms of taste, convenience, quality, nutrition and value as well as in communicating to consumers about the importance of good nutrition, including the contribution of specific foods to a balanced diet. The food industry contributes to educational efforts regarding healthy diets and lifestyles both directly – through product labelling, advertising, educational materials, on-line communications and information provided by Consumer Services departments – and indirectly, through active involvement and participation in educational programmes pursued in collaboration with nutrition and health education authorities. Through ongoing dialogue with its consumers and research conducted on consumer knowledge and attitudes towards diet, the food industry can ensure that communications developed are motivating and relevant to consumers' lives. In this paper, the specific contribution of the food industry will be illustrated through the promotion of healthy eating habits among children, focusing in particular on the importance of the breakfast meal.