IN SHAPE
IN FORM - Germany 's initiative for healthy eating and more exercise is a national action plan of the federal government to improve eating and exercise behavior in Germany.
background
The action plan was drawn up in a coordination process between the federal government, the federal states and the associations and was adopted in June 2008 by a cabinet decision. For the first time, the national action plan IN FORM is developing an overall strategy with which the multitude of individual activities in the field of nutrition and physical activity by the federal and state governments as well as local authorities, research facilities, associations and institutions are to be bundled and coordinated.
IN FORM focuses on five central fields of action:
- Role model function of the public sector,
- The importance of education and awareness,
- Movement in everyday life,
- Quality improvement in catering outside the home and
- Impetus for research
IN FORM aims to create an environment in Germany in which a balanced diet and adequate exercise are firmly anchored in all areas of life. The lead federal ministries ( Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture / BMEL and Federal Ministry of Health / BMG) want to use a national strategy to "motivate all population groups to adopt a healthier lifestyle" in the long term. The aim is to achieve that "adults live healthier and children grow up healthier".
Starting position
The Federal Government sees the need for a national action plan for the rise in diseases associated with unhealthy diet and a lack of exercise. The risk of diseases such as type II diabetes , cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders increases due to the imbalance of an unbalanced diet and too little exercise.
The initiators are based, among other things, on findings from the WHO and the health reports of the Robert Koch Institute , KiGGS and DEGS as well as the National Consumption Study II .
Goals and measures
The lead federal ministries ( Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture - BMEL and Federal Ministry of Health - BMG) want to use a national strategy to sustainably improve diet and physical activity in Germany by 2020. The aim is to ensure that adults live healthier lives, children grow up healthier and benefit from a higher quality of life and increased productivity in education, work and private life. Illnesses that are caused by an unhealthy lifestyle with a one-sided diet and lack of exercise should be reduced significantly.
The IN FORM initiative is aimed at the entire population. People should be reached where they live, work, learn and play. The focus of the initiative is on the "living environments" (family, daycare and school, work and the elderly). The action plan is increasingly target group-oriented.
IN FORM's initial phase (2008 to 2011) has now been completed. The initial phase served, among other things, to set up structures for implementation. In addition, existing activities in the areas of nutrition in movement were integrated into the IN FORM process and new projects initiated and promoted. Since 2008, BMEL and BMG have supported over 200 projects with a total funding volume of around 77 million euros.
In the consolidation and dissemination phase (2012 to 2014), the main task was to establish measures and projects funded by IN FORM on a permanent basis. In addition, IN FORM promoted the networking and exchange of actors in nutrition and exercise projects.
In the current expansion and consolidation phase (2015 to 2020), IN FORM has set itself the goal of “making healthier choices easier” and improving living conditions, e.g. For example, using the label “Recommended by IN FORM” to point out balanced recipes or to provide more incentives for elderly people in rural areas to exercise and eat together. In addition, IN FORM wants to increase its level of awareness, for example through the supporter logo “We are IN FORM” and other actors and a. also win within the common national prevention strategy.
Interim report
The interim report was published in December 2017 under the title "IN FORM - An interim balance sheet" (published by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food - BMEL). It provides an overview of previous activities and the structures created. He also presents selected measures and gives an outlook on future priorities.
In practical implementation, it became apparent that the fields of action described above cannot be delimited from one another. In the interim report, the previous activities are therefore divided into
- IN FORM in the worlds of life
Examples of this are the “CLASS, COOKING!” Competition (68 winning schools), the nutrition driving license (845,000 children) and the IN FORM MitMachBox for senior work (so far more than 3,400 times submitted).
- Quality assurance / evaluation
IN FORM promotes, among other things, the quality standards developed by the German Nutrition Society (DGE) for communal catering in day-care centers, schools, companies, hospitals, rehabilitation clinics, inpatient facilities for the elderly and for meals on wheels. The Max Rubner Institute, for example, provided the scientific evaluation of the 24 “KINDERLEICHT REGIONS” and their 700 individual measures in the first IN FORM funding phase (2006 to 2009) and 16 projects in the second IN FORM funding phase (2009 to 2011).
- Networking, transparency and exchange
One example is the nationwide network “Going Healthy - Young Family Network” (founded in 2009). At the state level, IN FORM promoted the establishment of “networking centers for school catering” in all 16 federal states.
Evaluation
The final report of the evaluation of the National Action Plan IN FORM was published in October 2019. The evaluation included:
- the description of the implementation to date (since 2008) and verification of the achievement of objectives
- Options for a possible continuation related to the organization and structure as well as to measures and projects
The evaluation report shows that far-reaching results were achieved with regard to behavior prevention. Noteworthy results were also achieved with regard to the preventive approaches (e.g. daycare and school catering). The goal of creating conducive conditions that facilitate a healthy lifestyle with a balanced diet and adequate exercise has not yet been achieved to a satisfactory extent.
Internet
IN FORM takes on a dialogue function around questions of healthy lifestyle for politics, science, economy and society. This is also reflected in the internet platform.
The Internet platform www.in-form.de is the central information tool and addresses two main target groups: Citizens can find articles and tips on healthy eating and exercise as well as a large number of recipes on the portal. The website is also aimed at experts such as nutritionists and sports scientists and multipliers.
It contains, among other things, a database with information, project reports and contacts from IN FORM projects. In addition, the Internet portal offers those responsible for the project tools and practical aids such as guidelines on the topics of quality assurance, evaluation and communication. Print materials from IN FORM and its partners can be downloaded directly from the website or ordered from the various media shops. Search and filter functions according to target groups and topics make it easier for the user to find relevant information.
Individual evidence
- ↑ BT printed matter 16/9914
- ↑ WHO (Ed.): Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic. Report of a WHO Consultation. In: WHO Technical Report Series. 894, 2000.
- ↑ WHO (Ed.): Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic. Report of a WHO Consultation. In: WHO Technical Report Series. 894, 2000.
- ↑ a b IN FORM - an interim balance sheet https://www.in-form.de/fileadmin/Bildmaterial/IN_FORM/in-form- Zwischenbericht- 2018.pdf
- ↑ Final report of the evaluation of the National Action Plan IN FORM (download at https://in-form.de/fileadmin/Dokumente/PDF/01BMEL_IN_FORM_Abschlussbericht_Web-PDF_barrierefrei.pdf )