The International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation, Washington, D.C., is participating in a UN Informal Interactive Hearing on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The hearing, titled “Global Progress, National Action: Moving from Commitment to Implementation,” involves a diverse group of non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, the private sector and academia from around the world.
 
The IFIC Foundation’s president & CEO David Schmidt and executive director Kimberly Reed also submitted written comments to H.E. Dr. John W. Ashe, president of the 68th session of the UN General Assembly as input and “lessons learnt” for the upcoming High-level Meeting of the UN General Assembly on July 10–11, 2014, that will undertake a comprehensive review and assessment of the progress achieved since 2011 in the prevention and control of NCDs.
 
“The IFIC Foundation is committed to supporting national efforts to address NCDs and enhancing international cooperation for NCDs,” Ms. Reed said.“We want to remind the UN, WHO, Member States, and other stakeholders that simple, science-based, behavior-focused communication messages on nutrition and health are an effective and affordable way to help consumers reduce risk factors associated with NCDs. This cost-effective approach can be easily tailored for different audiences based on location and need, and, therefore, should be a simple, yet important, intervention that every country could consider.”
 
Building upon the IFIC Foundation comments submitted to the UN three years ago for the June 2011 Informal Interactive Hearing, the Foundation has been engaged in a variety of mission-related efforts to reduce or eliminate NCDs. 
 
The IFIC Foundation hosted the 2011 Global Diet and Physical Activity Communications Summit “Insights to Motivate Healthful, Active Lifestyles,” and the proceedings were published in the May 2012 issue of the peer-reviewed journal Nutrition Reviews.
 
The IFIC Foundation also released “Communication Strategies to Help Reduce the Prevalence of Non-Communicable Diseases,” a user-friendly, one-page fact sheet based on key findings from the Summit. The fact sheet, which has been translated into the six official UN languages, features 10 tips for communicating with consumers and includes top-performing messages for motivating families.
 
Underscoring the importance of public-private partnerships and collaborations as part of the NCD solution, the Dietary Guidelines Alliance, which includes 16 members in liaison with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture, is focused on providing positive and simple messages to help American consumers achieve healthful, active lifestyles, consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
 
In January 2014, the Dietary Guidelines Alliance released an updated digital edition of the It’s All About You Communicators Tool Kit, a teaching tool to help nutrition communicators convey positive, simple, and consistent nutrition and health messages to consumers.  The Tool Kit, which consists of a booklet, fact sheets and slide presentation, includes new, consumer-tested messages that provide practical advice on how to apply the Dietary Guidelines in our lives. This can serve as a best practice model for other nations to consider as they address NCDs.

The International Food Information Council Foundation is dedicated to the mission of effectively communicating science-based information on health, nutrition, and food safety for the public good. The IFIC Foundation is supported primarily by the broad-based food, beverage and agricultural industries.