Overall objectives:
- Assessment of food consumption, dietary habits and nutritional quality of the diet among adults and children in Belgium (3-64 years).
- Assessment of physical activity levels and sedentariness in Belgium among adults and children (3-64 years).
- Assessment of the adequacy of food and nutrient intakes and physical activity in the different subgroups of the population compared to the recommendations.
- Estimation of exposure of Belgian children and adults to contaminants, additives and other chemicals in food.
- Estimation of the effect of nutrition policies (e.g. Belgian National Food and Health Plan (2005-2010), salt reduction, fortification of foods with nutrients, ...) on food and nutrient intakes of the population.
Specific objectives:
- To estimate the intake of macro- and micronutrients;
- To estimate the exposure to additives and contaminants in pursuing food safety;
- To estimate the intake of micronutrients through food supplements;
- To study the food consumption and dietary habits by sex, age and different social groups;
- To provide information for initiation of new policies and for evaluation of existing nutrition policies;
- To characterize sub-groups at risk for:
a) deficient or excessive intake of nutrients;
b) unsafe exposures to chemicals and contaminants in foods.
- To use trends in food consumption and dietary habits detected through surveillance to anticipate future evolutions.