Summary 1978 - 2003

In June 1978 delegates from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom founded the European Federation of the Associations of Dietitians (EFAD) in Copenhagen, Denmark. The meeting was arranged two days in advance of the CADEC meeting, as national dietetic associations from countries outside the EEC, but within the Council of Europe, had expressed strong interest in working with other national dietetic associations in Europe.  In 1978 the 10 national dietetic associations represented 10,380 dietitians. Membership of EFAD was open to one National Dietetic Association from each member state within the Council of Europe.  Each member association was represented by their delegates and had one vote.  The Executive Committee was made up of an Honorary President, who did not represent an Association and representatives from four Dietetic Associations, one of whom acted as Honorary Secretary and another as Honorary Treasurer.

An official secretariat was established in 1998.

By 2003 EFAD had 22 member Associations representing around 22,000 European dietitians. 

A detailed report plus many pictures can be downloaded from this PDF document

History from 2004 - 2010 

2004

• EFAD represented at a stakeholders meeting in Brussels, organised by the European Union Commission for Health and Consumer Protection to discuss nutritional labelling.
• The Dietetic Association of Cyprus and The Swedish Association of Clinical Dietitians joined EFAD  bringing membership to 24
• Draft European Dietetic Benchmark Statement was distributed for consultation to all EFAD member Associations and 193 Higher Education Institutes which train dietitians in Europe.

2005

• EFAD’s baseline document “Education of European Dietitians to meet Targets for Diet and Health” was submitted to the Europen Platform on Diet Physical Activity and Health
• EFAD participated in the first meeting of the European Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health.
• European Dietetic Benchmark Statement adopted by EFAD members 
• 6th European Forum for Dietetics was hosted by the Swiss Dietetic Association in Geneva
• EFAD became partner in The European Nutrition for Health Alliance (ENHA)
• Membership was extended to more than one national association of dietitians per country. The voting system remained unchanged.

2006

• Four new members joined bringing number of members to 28 member associations representing over 27,000 European dietitians:
  • Hellenic Association of Dietitians- Technologists of Nutrition
  • Norwegian Association of Dietitians affiliated to the Norwegian Association of Research Workers
  • Portuguese Nutritionist Association
  • Portuguese Association of Dietitians
• Honorary President Irene Mackay’s Term of Office ended
• Karin Hådell elected as Honorary President  2006-2010
• The Italian Dietetic Association and the British Dietetic Association join executive committee.
• Diet, Physical Activity and Health – A European Platform for Action
  • The EFAD baseline for 2006 was “Member Associations of EFAD will endorse the importance of good nutrition in a healthy lifestyle”
  • The EFAD commitment for 2006 was “Implementation of the European Academic and Practitioner Standards for Dietetics”
• EFAD joined The Dissemination and Exploitation Consensus Platform (DECP) for the Early Nutrition Programming Project (EARNEST)
• European Dietetic Benchmark Statement (EDBS) was translated into 10 languages and sent to about 30 ministries of health, education and employment and 7 quality assurance agencies throughout Europe

2006 – 2009

• Funding secured from European Commission Socrates Programme, Erasmus 3 – Thematic Networks to implement project “Dietitians Improving Education Training Standards” (DIETS)

2007

• EFAD commitment to Diet, Physical Activity and Health for 2007 was “The Dietetic Contribution to Health in the Workplace”
• EFAD became partners in the IMAGE project
• The new EFAD web site commissioned  

 2008

• EFAD commitment to Diet, Physical Activity and Health for 2008 was a joint project with EUFIC to evaluate an Energy Balance Tool.
• International Code of Ethics and Code of Good Practice adopted
• The French Association of Nutritionist Dieticians and the Danish Diet and Nutrition Association joined the Executive Committee 

 2009

• The Nutritionist-Dietitian’s Association of Latvia joined EFAD as Affiliated members
• EFAD commitment to Diet, Physical Activity and Health for 2009 was a joint project with EUFIC to promote the Energy Balance Tool.
• The European Dietetic Competences and Performance Indicators were adopted by the General Meeting
• EFAD became a member of the European Public Health Alliance
• The first European Student of the Year award was given to Eimear Kelleher of Ireland
• The General Meeting agreed that EFAD should prioritise Food, Health and Education. 

2010

• EFAD commitment to Diet, Physical Activity and Health for 2010 was to develop a position paper on the “Dietetic Management of Obesity”
• A position paper on “The role of the Dietitian in Fight against Malnutrition” was also commissioned
• EFAD became a member of the European Forum for Primary Care.
• An Extraordinary General Meeting in February 2010 agreed to restructure EFAD by extending the Executive Committee to include two new members:  the chairs of an education committee and a professional practice and research committee respectively. 

 2010 - 2013

Funding secured from European Commission Socrates Programme, Erasmus 3 – Thematic Networks to implement a project “Dietitians ensuring education, teaching and professional quality” (DIETS2)