A European deal to step up the battle against obesity has been agreed, it has been announced.
A crackdown on marketing of junk-food to children together with voluntary agreements with the food industry is part of the deal, agreed at a summit called by the World Health Organisation’s European region.
WHO says more than half of Europeans are overweight.
The summit in Vienna, Austria, was attended by health ministers from across the continent.
Health ministers at the summit agreed that promoting local produce would help improve diets and cut food costs.
They also agreed to back improvements in labelling and to push for changes to the composition of processed food, cutting salt, fat and sugar content.
WHO regional director Zsuzsanna Jakab said: "Putting this declaration into practice will mean that Europe embarks on a new wave of policy innovation to reduce obesity and promote health."
She added: "Chronic non-communicable diseases have now overtaken infectious diseases as the leading cause of morbidity and mortality.
"This is not the time for complacency; we need governments to see the benefits of taking strong, coordinated action to counter the tide of disease and death caused by eating poorly and being physically inactive."
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