The future of nutrition in Europe

The availability of food and the nutritional status of western Europeans have never been so good as in recent decades. However, we have not to go back too long to see that severe malnutrition also occurred in parts of western Europe. An example was the malnutrition and starvation causing high death rates in the western Netherlands in the early months of 1945, just before the end of the Second World War. Today there is an abundance of food in western Europe. Nevertheless we do warn people that the food, nutritious and delicious as it is, may be hazardous to health. Degenerative diseases like cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis and hypertension are very prevalent in our society. It is very likely that certain nutrients in foods do contribute both to the causes and prevention of these diseases. In this paper some new findings of the role of diet in health will be reviewed. This will be followed by a brief discussion on the status of nutrition research and training in Europe. Finally attention is asked for the need to start building-up a programme for nutritional leadership in Europe.