Health advocates have said a “tobacco-style global convention” is needed to tackle diet-related ill health.
In a letter to the World Health Organization director general Dr Margaret Chan and Jose Graziona da Silva, director general of the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Obesity Federation and Consumers International called for a “similar mechanism” to the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control, in protecting and promoting healthy diets. The letter comes ahead of the International Conference on Nutrition in Rome later this week.
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“The governance of food production and distribution cannot be left to economic interests alone,” the World Obesity Federation and Consumers International wrote.
They urged governments to take regulatory action to reduce children’s exposure to marketing, to impose compositional limits on the saturated fat, added sugar and sodium content of food, to bring in fiscal measures to discourage the consumption of unhealthy foods, and to require all trade and investment policies to be assessed for their potential health impacts.
In a statement, Amanda Long, director general of Consumers International, said: “Diseases like obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer are increasing in all regions of the world, most rapidly in developing countries. The policy actions that governments take now will determine whether we can turn the tide on this health crisis. A binding Global Convention offers the best hope of protecting and promoting the health of all consumers.”
Dr Tim Lobstein, policy director for the World Obesity Federation, added: “The rapid expansion of the marketing of highly processed foods is undermining health in much of the developing world, leading to rapidly rising rates of obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases. Regulatory action to control food markets will require political courage. We should start with a global convention which can help member states, particularly smaller nations, to build and maintain a robust defence of public health.”
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