IASO in the news

UN High Level meeting on NCD's...

IASO's Professor Shiriki Kumanyika attended the UN High Level Meeting on non-communicable diseases in mid-September - a major event over 2 days which brought together over 130 nations including 34 heads of state, along with over 200 civil society groups. The final text of the Resolution (available at: http://www.un.org/en/ga/ncdmeeting2011/documents.shtml) was strong in some of the language but considered by some to be weak in terms of actual commitments and follow-up tasks.

IASO will now work with the NCD Alliance in their 'Prevention Working Group' chaired by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) in London to identify issues that need further work. IASO is concerned that progress on cross-border issues (e.g. children's exposure to marketing) are not lost when member states take forward the Resolution, and with other civil society groups we want to see progress towards a clear procedure for dealing with commercial conflicts of interest in NCD strategy development.

To see our latest links to obesity news on the internet click here.

7th September 2011

UK: return to 1980 bodyweights would cost industry £8.7bn/year

A paper from IASO staff member Tim Lobstein has calculated the potential cost to the food industry if UK adults were to return to the bodyweight levels seen in 1980. UK adults have gained an average 8.4kg in the last 30 years and the energy balance adjustment that would need to take place to lose that mass is nearly 200kcal per day, or 71,000 kcal per year, for three years. For the population as a whole this is 3.69 trillion kcal per year.

Assuming no change in physical activity levels, and taking 2009 diet and food price data, this amounts to a reduced food intake of £167 per person, or £8.7billion for the population, each year for three years.

Lobstein T (2011) Maternal and child obesity: some policy challenges. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. Doi:10.1017/S0029665111003156.

© The Author, 2011.

For journal subscriptions, see: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=PNS

PRESS RELEASE
Junk food promotions: Industry 'civil war' puts child health at risk

London, 30 June 2011:  Advertising of junk food is putting children’s health at risk despite the food industry’s pledges that they will curb their marketing activities, according to an EU-funded report A Junk-Free Childhood: Responsible standards for marketing foods and beverages to children published today by the International Association for the Study of Obesity (IASO). 

In a review of industry practices undertaken by IASO, a not-for-profit organisation, author Dr Tim Lobstein says that food company competition is leading to large numbers of food advertisements and promotions targeting children, despite promises from leading companies that these marketing efforts would cease. According to the report, the industry’s self-regulation, which the European Commission relies on for controlling child exposure to junk food advertising (see note 2 below), is failing, with no consistency over: which foods are being promoted to children, when advertisements can be broadcast on television, what is meant by a ‘child’, or how the internet should be regulated. “The consequences,” he says, “are very low standards of control and continued exposure of children to powerful inducements to eat a junk food diet.”

“Among the voluntary pledges, we found a wide range of nutrition criteria describing what the industry would voluntarily restrict,” said Dr Lobstein. “We found disagreement concerning what age the rules should apply, and whether or not company-owned websites should be included in self-regulations. We also found big gaps in what was covered, with companies disagreeing about the use of: toys with products, brands in advergames, and equity brand characters like Tony the Tiger and Quiky the Nesquik bunny,. Companies can now use new technologies to encourage children to market to each other and by-pass any parental controls,” he added.

“The situation is chaotic,” said Dr Lobstein. “The food industry is highly competitive and a company will always put its own interests first. The children’s food market is worth billions of Euros and the struggle for access is tantamount to civil war in the food industry. In this context self-regulation is ineffective and only serves to defer proper controls.”

“The European Commission’s approach is too soft,” he said. “We need standards for marketing to children to be set by governments, not industry, and for health to be the priority, not market expansion.” The report is part of the StanMark project which aims to promote responsible standards for marketing food and beverages to children. 

Contact:
IASO, 12 Roger Street, London WC1N 2JU
Tel +44 (0) 207 685 2580  www.iaso.org
Dr Tim Lobstein +44 (0) 685 2583, Mobile +44 (0) 7590 223971

Notes:
1. The briefing paper: A Junk-Free Childhood: Responsible standards for marketing foods and beverages to children is available online at
http://www.iaso.org/policy/euprojects/stanmarkproject/stanmark-briefing-paper/
2. The European Commission's approach to marketing to children encourages self-regulation, as stated in their White Paper: A Strategy for Europe on Nutrition, Overweight and Obesity related health issues COM(2007) 279 final, Brussel, 30.5.2007 (Page 6). The White Paper is available at
http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_determinants/life_style/nutrition/documents/nutrition_wp_en.pdf
3. The food and beverage companies' European pledges are available at 
http://www.eu-pledge.eu/ and specific company media contacts are given at
http://www.eu-pledge.eu/participants.html
4. The World Health Organization's 2010 Recommendations on marketing foods and beverages to children can be found at 
http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/marketing-food-to-children/en/index.html
5. Details of the European Commission's Pilot Project Programme can be found at http://www.eeas.europa.eu/us/grants/pilot_projects/index_en.htm

IASO publishes obesity policy recommendations at ECO 2011...

IASO has published a set of 'Obesity Outcomes' which it would like to see adopted at a forthcoming United Nations health summit. The proposals call for multi-lateral coordination of nutrition policy, with a set of cross-UN targets for integrating health policies, food supply and agriculture policies, and trade and investment controls which put public health at their heart. Food supplies need to consider multiple issues, including farmer livelihood, environmental and animal welfare, and safe and nutritious products - available for all sections of the population. Market distortions have encouraged over-consumption of energy dense foods, the document states, and governments need to act to ensure food supplies meet consumers' needs.

The world's first high-level meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases - a two day event to be held at the UN headquarters in September 2011 - has attracted a number of NGO proposals. IASO's contribution will also be used as part of a general NCD Alliance set of proposals.   

IASO's Obesity Outcome Statement

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