The reduction, by 2027, of at least 10% in the salt content and 20% in the sugar content in foods that most contribute to the intake of salt and sugar in the Portuguese population are two of the goals defined by the new National Program for the Promotion of Healthy Eating (2022-2030), which also aims to improve knowledge about the Mediterranean diet.
The Directorate-General for Health is releasing the document today, as it is World Food Day, but it will be under public consultation as of tomorrow, Monday, October 17th.
The promotion of healthy eating and the prevention and control of all forms of malnutrition, in particular overweight and obesity, remain as health priorities, so much so that the projections for 2030, in Portugal, suggest that dietary errors and overweight and obesity may overtake tobacco in the ranking of risk factors that most contribute to mortality.
To face this scenario, the PNPAS 2022-2030 intends to continue the work started in 2012, promoting the health of the population, preventing and controlling all forms of malnutrition (inadequate nutrition, malnutrition, inadequate intake of vitamins and minerals, pre-obesity and obesity).
To this end, it provides for a concerted and integrated set of actions, at the level of food environments, at the individual level and at the level of health care.
After 10 years of strong investment in the two central pillars of the national food and nutrition strategy, which were the improvement of the food environment (for example, with agreements with the industry to reformulate the food supply or the regulation of food marketing aimed at children) and the citizen empowerment with education measures, the strategy presents measures more focused on the health system itself and at the level of health care provision.
If the focus of the PNPAS has been on prevention, in which Primary Health Care has an essential role, the magnitude of the problem of overweight, obesity and inadequate eating habits requires an immediate and more comprehensive intervention on the health system. health.
The development of the PNPAS 2022-2030 proposal followed a process based on scientific evidence and on models of strategic health planning, participatory and collaborative, with the involvement of different partners having been promoted.
It is also in line with the strategic priorities and recommendations of the European Union and the World Health Organization.
The document presents the new strategic guidelines for the program, developed in the context of the National Health Plan. In order for all interested citizens and public or private entities to comment, the public consultation will have a period of 21 working days.
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