European experience of healthy eating: strategies and practices

Abstract

The expediency of studying the European experience in solving modern problems of healthy nutrition is substantiated. Healthy nutrition strategies in various European countries: Finland, Switzerland, Spain, and Germany were analyzed. It was determined that each of the countries has principles and special experiences, formed by certain historical, traditional, and other characteristics. The graphic form was chosen to demonstrate healthy eating recommendations for all segments of the population. Nutrition monitoring of the population of European countries identified individual characteristics typical for European countries, which in turn formed special food pyramids. The basic elements of the World Health Organization's three-level food pyramid are provided and recommendations for reducing the consumption of fats and free sugars contained in the diet are applied. One of the main focuses of the study was the analysis of the peculiarities of the formation of food pyramids in the leading European countries, the unique characteristics of each of these pyramids were described. The key differences in the qualitative filling of the pyramids levels of different countries are listed and construed, in particular, in the context of the World Health Organisation recommendations on healthy nutrition. The experience of European restaurants, which position themselves in the healthy food segment according to developed general and special criteria, is analyzed. The developed author's criteria allow a systematic and unified comparative analysis of the key healthy eating aspects and trends for the modern population through the prism of researching the specific features of European healthy eating restaurants. It has been established that vegetarianism and veganism are mostly understood by European institutions as healthy food. The conducted analysis of restaurant establishments made it possible to create a list of components of healthy nutrition for the European population.