Graphic images of the damage caused by obesity should be slapped onto fatty foods, say international campaign groups.
Campaign groups Consumers International (CI) and the World Obesity Federation (WOF) are lobbying for more stringent rules when it comes to selling fat- and sugar-laden foods. And one of their suggestions in a new report is to decorate relevant food packaging with images of obesity-related damage, similar to those found on cigarette packets.
The report’s publication coincides with the 10th anniversary of the World Health Organization’s Global Strategy on Diet and Physical Activity and Health, which recognised the impact of unhealthy diet and lifestyle. But since then, both CI and the WOF say that global deaths as a result of obesity and being overweight rose from 2.6 million in 2005 to 3.4 million in 2010.
The report (‘Recommendations towards a Global Convention to protect and promote healthy diets’) was recently presented at the Wold Health Assembly in Geneva – you can read it in full here.
What we should do
In order to tackle such worrying statistics, CI and WOF say that governments worldwide should impose compulsory rules on their food and drink industries. As well as the cigarette-style images, these could also include stricter advertising standards (especially where children are targeted), spending more on educating the public about healthy eating, and reducing the overall levels of salt, saturated fat and sugar in food.
In addition, artificial trans-fats should be removed from all food and drink products by 2019.
Unhealthy food as bad as cigarettes
Consumers International Director General Amanda Long says: "The scale of the impact of unhealthy food on consumer health is comparable to the impact of cigarettes. The food and beverage industry has dragged its feet on meaningful change and governments have felt unable or unwilling to act.
"The only answer remaining for the global community is a framework convention and we urge governments to seriously consider our recommendations for achieving that. If they do not, we risk decades of obstruction from industry and a repeat of the catastrophic global health crisis caused by smoking."
The prevalence of obesity (defined as a BMI of 30 or above) has grown to such an extent that 10% of all men worldwide, and 14% of all women worldwide are now obese. Together, that’s more than half a billion obese people. In terms of numbers, the USA leads the way, closely followed by China, Brazil and Mexico.
Dr Tim Lobstein, World Obesity Federation Director of Policy, says: "These figures show the scale of the problem to be addressed. If obesity was an infectious disease we would have seen billions of dollars being invested in bringing it under control.
"But because obesity is largely caused by the overconsumption of fatty and sugary foods, we have seen policy-makers unwilling to take on the corporate interests who promote these foods. Governments need to take collective action and a framework convention offers them the chance to do this."
Should our government introduce scary cigarette-style images on fatty foods to help tackle obesity? Or is it an individual’s right to eat whatever they want, in blissful ignorance?
Vote in the poll below.
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