Communication strategies to help reduce the prevalence of non-communicable diseases: Proceedings from the inaugural IFIC Foundation Global Diet and Physical Activity Communications Summit

Abstract

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which include cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes, all of which are associated with the common risk factors of poor diet and insufficient physical activity, caused 63% of all deaths globally in 2008. The increasing discussion of global NCDs, including at the 2011 United Nations General Assembly High-level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases, and a request for multi-stakeholder engagement, prompted the International Food Information Council Foundation to sponsor the Global Diet and Physical Activity Communications Summit: “Insights to Motivate Healthful, Active Lifestyles” on September 19, 2011, in New York City. The Summit brought together a diverse group of stakeholders, representing 34 nations from governments; communication, health, nutrition, and fitness professions; civil society; nonprofits; academia; and the private sector. The Summit provided expert insights and best practices for the use of science-based, behavior-focused communications to motivate individuals to achieve healthful, active lifestyles, with the goal of reducing the prevalence of NCDs. Presented here are some of the highlights and key findings from the Summit.

Building Bridges to Connect With Stakeholders: A Template for Success

“…As the IFIC Foundation learned when it hosted a global summit on the topic of non-communicable disease [7] as side event to 2011 United Nations General Assembly, global convening events bring prominence and attention to an issue and build bridges for future success.…”

The nutritional footprint: an innovative management approach for the food sector

“…Other indicators such as land use/yield and biodiversity can be considered as qualitative in nature, at least when focusing on an industry or company level. Even though there is quantitative data for these factors at a global scale [3], it is not possible in the context of this paper to attempt down-scaling them to the level of individual companies.…”

“…Two of the biggest problems of western eating habits are related to the environmental and health damage they cause. On the one hand, so-called 'prosperity diseases' like obesity, hypertension or diabetes mellitus are increasingly common in many industrialized countries caused by eating too much sugar, fat and salt [3][4][5]. On the other hand, nutrition accounts for huge environmental impacts -not only caused by the high meat consumption and its high impact on climate change, but also its impact on land use patterns, water consumption or loss of biodiversity [6][7][8][9][10].…”

Methodological issues when analysing the role of physical activity in gastric cancer prevention: a critical review

“…A sedentary lifestyle has been associated with increased risk of cancer among the elderly population [23]. Therefore, it has been stated that elderly people should lead an active lifestyle in order to reduce its incidence [22]. In this regard, it is worth mentioning that although the beneficial effects of physical activity (PA) have been confirmed in several types of cancer (especially in colon and breast cancer), the role of PA as a risk factor directly related to the incidence of gastric cancer is still open to doubt [26,49].…”