Policy options for responding to obesity: cross-national report of the PorGrow project

besity in Europe is reaching epidemic proportions, but Europe's policy-makers need more information about what controls might be acceptable and effective. The PorGrow project provides national and cross-national information on, and analyses of, the varying perceptions and judgements of key stakeholder groups in nine European countries. The results, reported here, can contribute to identifying promising policy initiatives, and helping policy-makers, industry bodies, public health and medical groups and citizens to make informed strategic choices. The PorGrow project conducted a systematic process to identify key public policy options that might have a bearing on how to respond to the rising trend in the incidence of obesity in Europe. Using a Multi Criteria Mapping (MCM) method, quantitative and qualitative data were gathered from representatives of a broad range of organisations representing relevant stakeholder interest groups, in each of nine EU Member States: Cyprus, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the UK. Reports for each Member State are available separately. The present document provides a crossnational assessment and overview for the European Union.