Secretary General’s Preface
I am proud to introduce the Nordic Monitoring 2025 (NORMO 2025). This is an important report for all of us. It provides worrying statistics of areas that impacts the continued development of the Nordic region; and constitutes an important foundation for the development of stronger food and health policies. It is the result of hard work of researchers across the Nordics, and it highlights the state of our eating habits, activity levels and overweight.
I have to say it as it is: We are on a path towards becoming a sedentary and overweight Nordic population characterized by spending excessive time behind our screens while eating unhealthy and unsustainable food.
This latest edition of NORMO unfortunately makes for grim reading. But I have decided to see it as a call to action, to further strengthening our efforts to promote a more sustainable food and health situation in the Nordic region.
Our diets are moving further away from what the best available evidence tells us is healthy and sustainable, as outlined in the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023 (NNR2023). NORMO 2025 tells us that 56% of the Nordic adults and 1 in 5 of all our children are overweight or obese. The intake of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains has declined, while the consumption of sugary foods and drinks has increased. Primarily young people are increasingly consuming energy drinks and caffeinated beverages, that can cause mental and sleep disorders and concentration difficulties.
Food and good health are necessities, and they are connected to every aspect of building a healthy and sustainable Nordic region. Unhealthy lifestyles and food habits entail significant risks, not only for the individual but also for our societies at large. We therefore have a shared political responsibility for change. A population with unhealthy lifestyles and food habits comes at a high cost to our health care systems and is a risk to the resilience of the region.
NORMO 2025 also highlights that the effects of social inequalities in the Nordic region continues to strongly affect behaviours. Individuals from lower educational backgrounds report poorer dietary habits, higher rates of overweight and obesity, and increased use of nicotine and alcohol, compared to those with higher education. This is a trajectory that we need to change.
The change towards a healthy and sustainable Nordic region starts with our food. Both nationally and regionally, the Nordic countries are committed to enable more healthy and sustainable behaviours. The NNR2023 is an important tool for national dietary guidelines, informing the Nordic consumers for healthy and sustainable behaviours. But guidelines are not enough. Research and evidence tell us that we need stronger policy tools to enable behaviour change.
With Nordic cross-sector and cross-border action, I hope we can change the trends identified by NORMO 2025. I hope you will join us on a journey towards a new path to becoming an active and healthy region characterized by wellbeing, social interactions, and love for healthy and sustainable food.
Karen Ellemann, the Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers (Photo: Jens Honore / Norden.org)