Healthy Food and Lifestyle Choices

The main aim of this project is to contribute to a more healthy diet in a changing Arctic by bringing scientists and stakeholders from Norway, Finland and Russia together.

In the exchange the project will share and map status on healthy diets, mapping successful cases and provide information on preferences from stakeholders articulated in workshop and in survey.

Finally, we will provide ideas for common courses, seminars and networks to improve healthy food and lifestyle choices in the Artic.

A specific focus will be on the “disappearance of” and “re-appearance of” traditional and local food culture such as the importance of local food, diets, meal-patterns and cooking, and on how the local food culture and food quality (nutrition as well as food safety), alcohol as a part of eating habit and food waste change over time in the Arctic area.

The public health in the Arctic regions of the Nordic countries and Russia are threatened by a number of lifestyle-related factors. Diet and food consumption constitute major challenges in terms of health effects.


Bringing together scientist and other stakeholders from Norway, Finland and Russia, the project studied dietary habits in the Arctic, aiming to contribute to healthier diets and better public health. A specific focus was given to traditional and local food culture, food quality and food waste issues. Read more in the report Healthy living, nutrition and food waste in the Barents region.

Applicant: Norwegian Agricultural Economics Research Institute

Countries: Norway, Finland, Russia

Project start 2015, expected to be finalized in 2017.

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