Nutrition Policies in the Republic of Korea : Expert Opinions and Recommendations

Considering the increasing global burden of disease attributable to nutrition, the demand for national nutrition policies is growing stronger and stronger. The Republic of Korea is beginning to respond to this growing demand and there have been numerous recent achievements in the area of nutrition. The purpose of this paper is two fold. In the first part of the paper, an overview is provided about existing nutrition action in Korea. In the second part, information is elicited from Korean experts in the field of public health and nutrition. A structured questionnaire was sent directly to renowned Korean experts and was disseminated through the list serve of the Korean Nutrition Society. It asked about existing nutrition related policies, obstacles to nutrition policies in Korea, which professions are 'responsible' for the prevention of nutrition-related diseases and for example about existing nutrition programs within settings. Twenty-two questionnaires were returned. Based on the results, the following actions were considered crucial to develop and implement a nutrition policy in Korea: having a clear advocacy strategy for nutrition to raise awareness about the importance of nutrition, increase transparency of nutrition-related action and make the information easily accessible for all stakeholders, ensure the enforcement of regulations regarding misleading and incorrect food advertisements, strengthening the (public health) nutrition workforce, strengthen the settings-based approach and build and maintain partnerships, and last not least: educate and empower the citizens and ensure that healthy choices are 'easy choices'! Acknowledging the past and ongoing efforts in Korea, it is pivotal that the nutrition workforce grows stronger and the voice of nutritionists even louder, in order to promote and ensure the health and quality of life of the country's citizens. (J Community Nutrition 7(4) : $175\∼183$, 2005)