Note: This blog is being co-published on the Global Health Council Blog .
By: Kimberly Reed, Executive Director, International Food Information Council Foundation Date: 5/17/11
This week, I am attending the 64th World Health Assembly (WHA), an annual gathering of health ministers and global health leaders, in Geneva, Switzerland, as a civil society delegate with the Global Health Council. I am here because of WHA’s focus on noncommunicable disease (NCD) prevention and control. NCDs include heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and chronic respiratory disease, and are responsible for two-thirds of all deaths globally.
The outcomes from WHA, like those coming out of the First Global Ministerial Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and NCD Control last month in Moscow (to which the IFIC Foundation provided input), will inform the U.N. General Assembly discussion on the same topic in September.
In her keynote address, World Health Organization Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan, urged partners in global health to "remember the people." The International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation (www.foodinsight.org) also believes it's important to “remember the people” as part of furthering our mission of effectively communicating of science-based information on health, food safety, and nutrition for the public good.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius stressed to the Assembly that, as part of NCD prevention and control, we must invest in “powerful, cost-effective interventions like . . . promoting healthy diets and exercise.” In order to help individuals and families achieve healthful, active lifestyles, the IFIC Foundation believes that responses must include the use of science-based, behavior-focused messages. Messages should be clear, useful, and motivating. And, for messages to have their fullest impact, qualitative and quantitative consumer research and testing of consumer messages is critical.
Research Ties to NCDs
Our just-released IFIC Foundation's 2011 Food and Health Survey highlights consumer insights into understanding the contributing factors to NCDs, such as obesity, and mitigating strategies, such as improved diet and increased physical activity.
Specifically, the Survey asked American consumers to indicate "Which of the following medical conditions, if any, do you or any member of your household currently have or are at risk of having?" and listed fourteen medical conditions, including asthma, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and stroke. Through subpopulation analysis considering these medical conditions, we find that Americans reporting NCDs in their household compared to those who don’t are more likely to:
• Say their health is fair/poor & report being overweight or extremely overweight.
• Report that they are concerned about their weight and are trying to lose weight.
• Report their level of physical activity as sedentary (as opposed to moderately or vigorously active).
• Report "not at all" when asked if they keep track of energy balance (calories consumed vs. burned.)
• Say they have changed the amount of food consumed and the number of eating occasions (among those who report making dietary changes in the last six months.)
• Look for information on packages when purchasing foods and beverages and to look at the Nutrition Facts panel, expiration date, ingredients list, size of product (e.g., net weight, fluid ounces), cooking instructions, statements about nutrition benefits (e.g., a good source of calcium, low in fat), and country of origin labeling.
Consumer insights like these are key to informing appropriate NCD prevention and control responses. To quote Dr. Chan, we must “remember the people."