This two-day roundtable, entitled "Encouraging healthy eating and active living in the family setting", organised as part our Social Europe programme, will start on Thursday 1 December 2011 at De Warende in Brussels.

Reduced levels of physical activity, increases in sedentary behaviour, and modifications in the structure of diet are contributing to a rising epidemic of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as obesity, certain cancers, coronary heart and cerebrovascular diseases, hypertension and diabetes. Encouraging individuals to make ‘smart choices’ in terms of eating well and maintaining a physically active lifestyle that will protect their health is key. How to encourage individuals to adopt these healthy behaviours is challenging as there are numerous barriers.

Representatives from academia, civil society and European and international institutions will debate the challenges and opportunities of the family setting for promoting health through better diets and more physical activity whilst aiming to understand the context of modern European family lives and its influence on health behaviours.