Jul 15 2010 --- The European Economic and Social Committee has signed an institutional partnership with the Italian Ministry for Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies for the FOOD 4U campaign. With this shared patronage, the EESC wants to emphasize the importance of healthy food as well as the negative effects of unhealthy eating habits. Over 30,000 schools (20% more than last year) took part in the competition to produce a short film on the value of healthy eating habits.

Obesity is a priority issue for the European Union due to the amount of diseases and disorders associated with bad eating habits. According to the International Obesity Taskforce, the number of overweight children has soared to approximately 22 million, of whom 5 million are obese.

The objective of the FOOD 4U campaign and the film competition is to inspire in-depth discussions on a subject that is often ignored. Education is not enough: youngsters need to get involved and be given the chance to develop vital tools to decode advertising messages.

The EESC supports the video competition to raise awareness of healthy diets. Out of hundreds of entrants, 33 finalists from 16 European countries were selected. Fast food was identified by several participants as being the antithesis of healthy nutrition with a balanced diet seen as the solution to bad eating habits.

The young European filmmakers will go to Jesolo, Italy from 18 to 21 September for the FOOD 4U Video Festival 2010 where they will have the opportunity to exchange views and learn more about healthy food. The FOOD 4U Award 2010 will be presented to the winning entry at the closing event on 23 September at the Auditorium della Conciliazione in Rome. Ms Madi Sharma, EESC Member and rapporteur of an EESC opinion on obesity in Europe will be part of the international jury.

The FOOD 4U initiative, now in its sixth year, confirms its Europe-wide importance as an effective tool in nutrition education. From 2011, due to increased demand, all European countries will be able to participate.