Protecting children from unhealthy food marketing: WHO launched new guideline 

Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) released its new guidance regarding stricter regulations on the marketing of unhealthy foods. 

The contents and proposals of this report are intended to encourage governments to adopt stricter regulations on the marketing of foods high in saturated fat, trans fat, free sugars or salt (HFSS) to children. 

For the first time, WHO is telling countries that the problem can only be addressed through mandatory regulations that limit the industry's ability to target children. 

These would have to extend beyond media for children because of the ubiquity of advertising, according to WHO.

“Marketing is done to promote products, and promoting products is done to improve profits,” Francesco Branca, WHO Director of Nutrition and Food Safety told reporters on Monday. 

“This is a classic situation where there is a conflict between the objectives of private entities and the interests of public health.” 

The updated guidelines are the result of more than a decade of stalled progress since the World Health Assembly first adopted recommendations to protect children from harmful food marketing in 2010. 

Thirteen years after the first recommendations were made to protect children from harmful foods, policy action worldwide remains inadequate, he said. 

Of only 60 countries that restrict food marketing to children, only 20 have enacted binding laws, which often have gaps as they often only protect young children under the age of five.

Many of those lawas don’t cover digital marketing, which is the main channel of advertising for children in our digitized world. 

“It is an increasing worry for all of us that children are now exposed to harmful food marketing in digital spaces,” said Dr Ailan Li, Assistant Director-General for Healthier Populations at WHO. 

“Digital marketing is the most important now, and for the future.” 

The goal of the guideline is to curb childhood obesity, as 40 million children under the age of 5 were estimated to be overweight or obese in 2020. 

Since there is no indication that the industry will restrict itself on a voluntary basis, WHO believes it is time to accept the realities of the marketplace and impose legal regulations.
 

The whole guideline can be read at www.who.int

Source: www.healthpolicy-watch.news