The EU is joining the food industry, consumer groups and health experts to combat obesity in children, an issue that is taking on epidemic proportions in Europe.
Recently the European Commission issued data showing the number of overweight schoolchildren rises by 400 000 a year due to lack of exercise and eating the wrong foods, officials said.
The data will also show that perhaps as many as 200 million Europeans are either overweight or obese.
Some 24 percent of schoolchildren were considered too heavy or obese in 2002, five points higher than was anticipated in the 1980s and that number already exceeds the peak predicted for 2010, according to the International Obesity Task Force.
Weight problems and obesity have long been underestimated in European nations, health officials say. - Sapa-AP