EGEA conference: A conference on promotion of fruits and vegetables

From Wednesday to this Friday a conference was held in Brussels on the role of fruits and vegetables in pursuing the social and health benefits of a balanced diet. This is the 6th so-called EGEA conference on this topic, supported by the European Commission. I had the honour and pleasure to give the opening key note on the role of socio-economic determinants in promoting fruits and vegetables. I especially used results of the Pro Children, Schoolgruiten, and Pro Greens studies to illustrate the socio-economic disparities and the potential to address these with school-based fruit and vegetable promotion programs.

During the rest of the conference evidence was presented on the associations of fruit and vegetable intakes with morbidity and mortality, on different health promotion schemes to encourage fruits and vegetables, on physical, social and economical influences on fruit and vegetable intakes, and on European Commission research an policy projects on fruit and vegetable promotion.