Dietary habits, physical activity, and sedentary behavior, as well as markers of nutritional status, are risk or protective factors for many chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. As a result, the implementation of a nutrition policy has emerged as a public health priority over the past twenty years. Improving the population’s nutritional status and physical activity levels, as well as reducing sedentary behavior, have become major priorities for public health policies in France. For Santé publique France, the goal is to improve the health of the entire population by addressing the various components of nutrition, namely dietary intake, nutritional status, and the population’s level of physical activity and sedentary behavior. The objective: to reduce the risks associated with nutritional issues.

What are the links between nutrition and health?

Nutrition is a protective or risk factor for the most common noncommunicable diseases in France, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, obesity, osteoporosis, and type 2 diabetes. Advances in research have clarified the role played by inadequate nutritional intake, insufficient physical activity, and a sedentary lifestyle in the development of many diseases, particularly cancers and cardiovascular diseases, which account for more than 55% of the 550,000 annual deaths in France.
Improving the nutritional status of the population is a major priority for public health policies in France, Europe, and worldwide.

To reduce the risk of chronic diseases, the following is currently recommended in France:

• To increase:

  • Fruits and vegetables,

  • Legumes,

  • Unsalted nuts,

  • Homemade foods,

  • Physical activity,

• Opting for

  • Whole-grain or multigrain bread,

  • Whole-grain pasta and rice,

  • Whole-grain semolina,

• Reducing

  • Alcohol,

  • Sugary foods and sugary drinks,

  • Salty foods,

  • Processed meats,

  • Meat (pork, beef, veal, mutton, lamb, offal),

  • Products with a Nutri-Score of D or E,

  • Time spent sitting.

What is France’s nutrition policy?

The National Nutrition and Health Program (PNNS) was launched in January 2001 to improve the nutritional status of the general population, as well as specific groups (pregnant women, young children, etc.). The PNNS’s public health objectives focus on dietary intake, physical activity and sedentary behavior, as well as various markers of nutritional status. They address four key areas, which are:

• reducing obesity and overweight in the population,

• increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary lifestyles at all ages,

• improving dietary practices and nutritional intake, particularly among at-risk populations,

• reducing the prevalence of nutrition-related diseases.

Santé publique France aims to achieve these objectives through a prevention and health promotion program comprising numerous initiatives. Furthermore, monitoring the PNNS requires a nutritional surveillance system to track changes in the situation in France. This system is organized by Santé Publique France and covers the monitoring of dietary intake, physical activity and sedentary behavior, and the nutritional status of the population living in France.
The PNNS was renewed in 2006 and again in 2011. Since these various programs only partially achieved their objectives, the High Council for Public Health proposed a new approach for 2017–2021 by introducing a public health nutrition policy based on measures targeting the general population with varying intensity depending on the degree of disadvantage (principle of proportionate universalism).