Portugal has a high degree of implementation of public policies to promote healthy eating. This is one of the main conclusions of a study promoted by the National Program for the Promotion of Healthy Eating (PNPAS) of the Directorate-General for Health, regarding its 10th anniversary, which was marked this Thursday.
According to the results of this study on the degree of implementation of public policies to promote healthy eating, Portugal obtained in
77% of the indicators included in this analysis have a moderate or high degree of implementation (56% moderate degree of implementation and 21% high degree of implementation).
The study was carried out in several European countries, namely Slovenia, Estonia, Spain, Finland and Italy and, compared to these countries, Portugal stands out for the positive implementation of policies that contribute to healthier eating habits.
In Portugal, several measures were identified that are internationally considered good practices, including measures that promote the reformulation of food products, measures to regulate food advertising aimed at children, measures related to price policies, measures that aim to regulate the supply food in different public spaces.
It is also worth noting the existence of specific national programs in the area of food and nutrition and systems for monitoring food environments, as well as the existence of mechanisms that promote an intersectoral intervention approach.
To continue the strategy, the results of this study propose the implementation of a set of priority actions:
• the extension of the plan for the reformulation of food products in force in Portugal to other food categories, also considering the
catering sector;
• assessment of the tax system taking into account nutritional criteria;
• the definition of mechanisms that allow the effective implementation of the existing guidelines for food supply in schools, namely through the definition of a model for supervising compliance with the rules;
• maintaining the focus on accessibility to nutrition services in primary health care;
• inclusion of the healthy eating program in the basic portfolio of Primary Health Care services.
The evaluation methodology was developed by International Network for Food and Obesity/NCDs Research, Monitoring and Action Support (INFORMAS) in collaboration with Imperial College London. It uses an index with 50 indicators grouped into 13 different domains that represent the main areas of intervention and support structures for creating healthy food environments.
Click here for the final study report
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