The United Nations is taking an interest in the health and weight of European people and has been instrumental in organising a high level conference in Turkey’s capital Istanbul that discussed diet, physical activity and the need to educate and protect people from fast food and negative commercial interests that are making European people overweight and obese.

The European Charter on Counteracting Obesity has been set up with the target of stopping the rising obesity figures and getting Europe back in shape again. The Charter sets out ambitious targets such as that children and teenagers in Europe will be on average thinner by the year 2015 if not before.

The Charter also sets out recommendations that include for example the establishing of rules that will limit the amount of commercial promotion of high calorie foods and drinks that are found in fast food restaurants. These recommendations have children in mind especially as they are most influenced by this sort of advertising.

The Charter does not just limit it recommendations to eating habits but also to the implementation of safer roads and pavements so that people will be keener to walk and cycle when going to work or doing daily errands.

The Charter also encourages governments to set out guidelines that make it easy for people to partake in sport and regular exercise as well as programs to teach people about good nutrition especially in schools. The Charter also noted that too much fat salt and sugar was being put into processed foodstuffs that was adding to the obesity crisis all over Europe and this should be tackled head on too.

The World Health Organisation reckons that around 400 million people are overweight in Europe and that another 130 million people qualify as obese. The numbers are rising all the time in all European countries and the problem will only get worse unless governments take affirmative action.