Food policies for a healthy population

Food policies for a healthy population

development policies for the agricultural-food systems of developing countries, and the interaction between the implementation of these long-term nati...

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development policies for the agricultural-food systems of developing countries, and the interaction between the implementation of these long-term national policies and the operation of the international markets. The course has been designed for government officials acting in commodity markets and multilateral trade negotiations, as well as administrators and planners working in public institutions, non-governmental or international organizations dealing with issues such as agricultural trade, food aid, international assistance for agricultural and rural development, and the overall food situation in the developing world. The course curriculum includes the study of trade-related issues such as the present system of international arrangements and institutions manag-

ing relations in the field of food trade, the operation of soft commodity markets, and trade and food policies of the main trading nations and their implications for the evolution of world food markets. It also looks at the role of transnational corporations in agricultural and food production and trade, the development of a sustainable environment for long-term food production policies, and issues relating to the formulation of farm and food policies and the contributions of agriculture to social and economic development in both market-oriented and centrally-planned economies.

Christopher Barrow and Eduardo Santos Centre for Development Studies University College of Swansea Swansea, UK

Conference reports Food policies for a healthy population

Spiriczew (Moscow), who said that factors such as climate, seasons of the year and place of reaidencc can all influence vitamin deficiency. In addition he pointed out that the food industry adds some vitamins to their products, for example vitamin A in butter and vitamin C in milk. A. Dvorski (Czechoslovakia) spoke about several epidemiological investigations into the connection between nutrition and state-of-health of population groups in Czechoslovakia during the past 20 years. Results showed a correlation between stateof-health and ‘civilization disease\‘. morbidity, mortality and average age. It was evident from scvcral papers presented as posters during this session that an increasing economic level contributes to both positive and some negative changes in diet, linked with the population’s higher energy intake and modifications in food consumption ~ especially of refined products (eg sugar, fats). The following nutrient goals for the year 2000 were proposed by most authors: 0 0

The Fifth FENS European Nutrition Conference on Nutritional Human Health, Warsaw, Poland, 20-23 May 1987

The Fifth European Nutrition Conference was devoted to the topic ‘Nutritional sciences for human health’. The conference was organized by the Polish Society of Nutritional Sciences and the Human Nutrition Committee of the Polish Academy of Science, under the auspices of the Federation of European Nutrition Societies and the Polish Academy of Sciences. A total of 470 people registered at the conference, including 39 spouses. There were representatives from 25 countries from all continents. Accordingly, the opening and closing cercmonies - with lectures by S. Berger, N. Scrimshaw, W. Szostak and B. Isaksson ~ emphasized the international aspects of nutrition. Ten symposia and two workshops were held on a wide range of topics, and 354 posters were presented during

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the conference. Among the various topics, Session VI on ‘European food and nutrition policies’ - chaired by J.V. Wheelock (UK) and W. Kaminski (Poland) ~ was well attended. Four lectures were delivered and followed by a lively discussion concerning socioeconomic factors and consumption patterns. Mr Wheelock’s lecture informed participants about the efforts of scientists over the past 50 years, and indicated that diet is one of the most important causes of degenerative diseases (eg the connections between diet, cancer and cardiovascular disease), while Mr PCrissC spoke about the influence of economic factors on food consumption patterns, taking Tunisia as an example. The vitamin status of the population in the USSR was presented by W.B.

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energy from fat to be within 3tL-32’% of dietary intake; energy from sugar to be within I& 12% of dietary intake: a cholesterol intake of 300 mgi day; an increase in fibre intake: a decrease in salt intake.

To achieve these nutrient goalsilcvels. certain changes in food consumption patterns will be necessary in most developed countries. including an ifzcrease of cereals with a high fibre content, sea fish, vegetable and fish oils, vegetables, fruits and legumes; and a deww~.s~ of animal products with a high fat content. eggs, total fat, sugar and salt. In all industrialized countries the rising standard of living has been accompanied by changes in eating habits. In order to be able to implement meaningful food politics it is necessary to have sufficient knowledge about food consumption and eating habits. People need less energy when there is less physical work. but they still need the necessary quantities of nutrients. Food should. therefore,

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be nutritionally richer per unit of energy. However, food trends have direction in turned in the opposite many countries. Some papers showed that several EEC countries study and use food legislation in relation to nutritional labelling. education programmes at school. and local radio health campaigns aimed at better food consumption patterns. The demands of agricultural policy, of the food processing industry and those of consumers do not necessarily correspond to consumers’ needs and a healthy diet. Another session of great interest was that on food consumption and nutritional status assessment, chaired by K. Pietrzik (Federal Republic of Germany) and G. Brubacher (Switzerland). The nutritional status of the population in Hungary was presented by G. Biro (Hungary) who spoke about the computer programme that has been developed for the evaluation of essential information on the connection, for example, between the nutrient/energy intake and the anthropometric index.

Data collection Present knowledge and its implication for food consumption survey was presented by R. Buzina (Yugoslavia). The various measures of food consumption may be classified as those derived from national accounts of per capita consumption data, household food surveys and surveys of individual diets. Several methods have been used to gather these data. It has been shbwn recently that the error inherent in food consumption measurements is usually much smaller than the time differences in day-to-day variations of the individuals’ food consumption and. consequently, that the basic issue seems to be less the selection of method but rather the number of study days required. MS Gronowska-Senger (Poland) informed participants how several factors influence which-and how much foods and nutrients are consumed per day or per year. Moderate, varied and balanced food consumption is the key to good nutritional status and health. The lecture about biochemical criteria

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for vitamin status assessment was presented by K. Pietrzik. As long as there is no standardization in borderlines and nomenclature, a detailed description of the pathophysiological events in the development of vitamin deficiency status is needed for any case, otherwise it will never be possible to compare the different results with each other. The best way to construct cut-off points between the different risk categories is to determine the biochemical value which corresponds to the earliest determinable physiological, functional or morphological alteration dependent on vitamin deficiency. The importance of this topic

reviews

was emphasized by the large number (66) of posters presented on related themes, including those showing food and consumption patterns for population groups all over the world. During the conference, S. Berger (Poland) was elected as the new president of FENS (replacing J. Hautvast), and the secretary (A.A. Rerat of France) and treasurers (C. Leitzman. FRG and H. Schmandke, DRG) were re-elected. Grazyna Lewandowska Institute of Human Nutrition Warsaw Agriculture University Warsaw, Poland

Book reviews SAM and his children FOOD POLICY IN MEXICO: THE SEARCH FOR SELF-SUFFICIENCY edited by James E. Austin and Gustav0 Esteva Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, USA, 1987, 307/p, $29.00 To feed the burgeoning masses of the Third World is a key task of rulers in most Less Developed Countries (LDCs). This is simply because food shortages topple governments. No wonder then that LDC politicians are uncomfortable being dependent on foreign suppliers for their basic stawhen they witness ples, especially exporters making their donations or sale of food surpluses part and parcel of their foreign policy tool-kits. Under those circumstances, policy makers in LDCs increasingly consider it a highly desirable goal to attain self-sufficiency in basic staples. This target is frequently stated, but seldom attained. While the search for self-sufficiency looms large on development agendas of most Third World nations, few detailed studies have been made of the existing experiences. Past mistakes are therefore being repeated over and over again. We simply do not clearly understand key issues surrounding

self-sufficiency goals. The purpose of this valuable book is to fill in a few of the ‘black holes’ of knowledge needed by analysts, development specialists and private decision makers who want to improve food systems in LDCs. I find it a great pleasure to review this opus, which focuses on experiences with the controversial Mexican Food System - or SAM (Sistema Alimentario Mexicano) as it is affectionately called - because I have been associated with some of the Mexican food policy implementation action programmes on behalf of the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB); the SAM experience is elegantly and realistically analysed with flowers as well as brickbats constructively thrown in; and concrete and realistic recommendations are courageously made to anybody willing to listen so as to avoid reinventing food policy wheels. A book with these attributes warrants an extensive and critical review article, rather than a mere pcrfunctory, even though laudatory announcement. The book was intellectually conceived in about 1973. Then Messrs Austin and Esteva - or A/E as they will henceforth be referred to - the future editors, met for the first time. They soon discovered to be ‘riding

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