Search

Background: In Europe, micronutrient recommendations have been established by (inter)national committees of experts and are used by public health-policy decision makers to monitor and assess the adequacy of the diets of population groups. Current micronutrient recommendations are, however, heterogeneous, whereas the scientific basis for this is not obvious. Alignment of setting micronutrient recommendations is necessary to improve the transparency of the process, the objectivity and reliability of recommendations that are derived by diverse regional and (inter)national bodies. Objective: This call for alignment of micronutrient recommendations is a direct result of the current sociopolitical climate in Europe and uncovers the need for an institutional architecture. There is a need for evidence-based policy making, transparent decision making, stakeholder involvement and alignment of policies across Europe. Results: In this paper, we propose a General Framework that describes the process leading from assessing nutritional requirements to policy applications, based on evidence from science, stakeholder interests and the sociopolitical context. The framework envisions the derivation of nutrient recommendations as scientific methodology, embedded in a policy-making process that also includes consumer issues, and acknowledges the influences of the wider sociopolitical context by distinguishing the principal components of the framework: (a) defining the nutrient requirements for health, (b) setting nutrient recommendations, (c) policy options and (d) policy applications. Conclusion: The General Framework can serve as a basis for a systematic and transparent approach to the development and review of micronutrient requirements in Europe, as well as the decision making of scientific advisory bodies, policy makers and stakeholders involved in this process of assessing, developing and translating these recommendations into public health nutrition policy. European journal of Clinical Nutrition (2010) 64, S2-S10; doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2010.55 Keywords: micronutrient; recommendations; framework; Europe; transparency; sociopolitical, Variability, alignment and the policy context in the process of micronutrient recommendations development The aim of nutritional recommendations is to provide guidelines for the nutrient composition of diets as a [...]

In the 27 years since HIV was first reported in the United States, an estimated 1.6 million people have been diagnosed with HIV, and more than 525,000 have died as [...]

Objective: The present study seeks to establish the extent to which media coverage acknowledges alcohol's contribution to violent crime as well as to motor vehicle injuries and other injury incidents. Method: The study content-analyzes a unique sample, closely approximating national representativeness, of local and national television news, local newspapers, and national magazines randomly sampled during a 2-year period. Results: Alcohol's role in violent crime and, to a lesser extent, in motor vehicle and other injury incidents is under-reported relative to available estimates regarding alcohol-attributable fractions. Relative frequency of various news frames for coverage of alcohol and illegal drugs and differences in coverage of alcohol and illegal drugs as a function of the type of story and news medium are described. Conclusions: The underreporting in the United States of alcohol's contribution to serious and fatal injury from these causes may reduce public perceptions of alcohol-related risks, potentially influencing behavior, including public support of alcohol-control policies. This provides an opportunity for media-advocacy approaches to improve public health content of news coverage., FEW APPROACHES ARE MORE EFFECTIVE in reducing misuse of alcohol and illegal drugs than the passage and enforcement of substance control policies (Toomey and Wagenaar, 2003). In turn, the importance [...]

In 1992, WHO issued recommendations for the selection and use of antibody tests (testing strategies) for the surveillance and diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). (1) UNAIDS and WHO revised [...]

The European Commission and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) launched the European Health Information Platform on February 2 in Brussels. The platform is a multimedia initiative which aims to set [...]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently published official notice of proposed 'Control of Communicable Diseases' regulations that empower the federal government to deprive individuals both of civil [...]