The establishment of the Determinants of Diet and Physical Activity (DEDIPAC) Knowledge Hub, 2013
–
2016, was the first
action taken by the
‘
Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life
’
European Joint Programming Initiative. DEDIPAC aimed to provide
better insight into the determinants of diet, physical activity and sedentary behaviour across the life course, i.e. insight
into the causes of the causes of important, non-commu
nicable diseases across Europe and beyond. DEDIPAC
was launched in late 2013, and delivered its final report in late 2016. In this paper we give an overview of what
was achieved in terms of furthering measurement and monitoring, providing overviews of the state-of-the-art in
the field, and building toolboxes for further research and pr
actice. Additionally, we propose some of the next steps that
are now required to move forward in this field, arguing in favour of 1) sustaining the Knowledge Hub and developing it
into a European virtual research institute and knowledge cen
tre for determinants of behavi
oural nutrition and physical
activity with close links to other parts of the world; 2) establi
shing a cohort study of families across all regions of Europe
focusing specifically on the individual and contextual
determinants of major, non-communicable disease; and
3) furthering DEDIPAC
’
s work on nutrition, physical activity, and sedentary behaviour policy evaluation and
benchmarking across Europe by aligning with other international initiatives and by supporting harmonisation
of pan-European surveillance.