Nutrition
Nutrition
The aim is to have the public in general adopt a healthy diet, eat in moderation, and partake regularly in a suitable form of exercise. The importance of a healthy diet and exercise is highlighted as being a key factor to good health. The main objectives of the nutrition department within the Public Health Institute are to influence the nation’s food habits towards a healthier way, i.e. closer to the national recommendations on diet and intake of nutrients. Special emphasis is laid on increasing vegetable, fruit and fish consumption, and on decreasing intake of salt and saturated fat.
These measures are to be achieved by increasing education in nutrition and by making access to healthy foods easier, and thereby making healthy choices easier. The Public Health Institute of Iceland carries out national food surveys and data are gathered on consumption and sales of food.
Special programmes as to diet and exercise are targeted at children, teenagers and their families. (See Everything affects us - especially ourselves!)