World Health Organization Pressures Food & Beverage Industry to Put the Brakes on Advertising Junk to Kids
The World Health Organization made a compelling worldwide public announcement—to stop overloading our children with advertisements for food and drinks that will eventually make them sick. The plea comes at an appropriate time, since the WHO is committed to focusing on global prevention non-communicable diseases this year. That’s cancer, heart and lung disease, and diabetes.
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Dr. Timothy Armstrong, the WHO’s chief promoter of healthy diet and physical education, claims that 90% of premature deaths are caused by these diseases, especially in countries of low and middle-income, where obesity is increasing.
Health leaders and the UN health agency are reaching out to internationally recognized brands, such as McDonalds, Kellogg, Kraft, Nestle, Mars, Bimbo and others, in the hopes of convincing them to stand by the pledge they made not to market unhealthy products to kids under twelve. Officials reported that in some countries, several companies had been abiding by the agreement, but it appears that in less-developed and poorer nations, precautions were either not being followed closely, or were not being followed at all.
Dr. Armstrong urged national leaders to have a stronger stance when it comes to enforcing the commitments made by the industries. The companies will most likely not police themselves. All of the officials are hoping the advertisements will eventually be banned, in a similar fashion as tobacco companies eventually being explicitly prohibited to show advertising to children, to use cartoon characters as mascots, and to show commercials during family programming.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Advertising’s impact on children’s public health has long been known and has long been an issue for many of us parents. It is high time the the World Health Organization voiced its concern and took the first move to stop these companies from reneging on their commitments!
When it comes to children’s public health, it is not enough to just get the commitment of the companies. You are right, these companies are not expected to regulate themselves. This is why a public health program and public health policies are very important. This is to ensure that there are laws that prohibits these companies to advertise unhealthy products, and these laws should carry punitive provisions!
Is it just me or do I find the request not to market unhealthy products to kids under twelve sort of lacking? We all care about children’s public health, but I do think that the impact of advertising is not limited to those under 12. I think that these brands should be asked not to advertise unhealthy products, period.
I agree that it is time that the WHO did something about this. With more and more children being obese right now and the links between obesity and a lot of serious diseases, the focus is on stopping it. This would save a lot of children from becoming unduly sick because they ate food that they saw on an advertisement, thinking that it’s good for them. This is precisely the reason why I pursued a Masters in Public Health degree, because I know that I can be of service to a lot of people, children especially!
More public health officials should follow WHO’s example here. I really commend the WHO for sounding the alarm and urging these companies to stop with their advertising. I know that it is a long shot, but shouldn’t public health officials be concerned with stopping these companies from producing unhealthy food, not just advertising them?
I’m not sure that that is possible, really. Remember that tobacco companies have been barred from advertising on TV, billboards, sports and concerts sponsorships and just about anywhere. But cigarettes are still on sale and very much available. I guess children’s public health should take a front seat though, and public health officials could be more assertive about unhealthy food, especially when research has proven that these unhealthy products can cause heart diseases, diabetes and other diseases even in young children.