PHA-Exchange> Global ban on junk food marketing to children

[Aviva]

 PHM Secretariat" <ravi at phmovement.org>

> >   Statement on Junk Food Marketing to Children
> >   Across the planet, obesity in children is reaching epidemic
levels.
>  More kids are getting fatter; and not coincidentally, many of these
> children are the targets of saturation marketing by the junk food
> industry, which seeks to displace healthful local eating habits with
its
> own high calorie, high-added-fat, high-added-sugar junk food.*
> >
> >   The time has come to reaffirm that raising children is the role
and
> responsibility of parents.  It is not the role of the junk food
industry
> or any other industry, and these corporations must stop injecting
> themselves into the relationship between parents and their own
children.
>  They must stop creating strife in the home by prodding kids to whine
> and throw tantrums for junk food.  They must stop draining family
> budgets, especially in developing countries, by enticing children to
> demand junk food that their parents cannot afford.
> >
> >   These corporations must stop undermining the efforts of parents
to
> transmit traditional -- and healthful -- eating habits to their
> children, and they must respect the sanctity of the family dinner
table
> and the cultural heritage that surrounds it.
> >
> >   We, the undersigned, support a global ban on junk food marketing
to
> children twelve years of age and below.  This one step is perhaps the
> single most inexpensive and cost-efficient way to reduce the global
> burden of obesity, diabetes and their complications among children. 
It
> would require virtually no governmental expenditure, and would likely
> save families billions of dollars each year that could be better
spent
> on such things as education, healthful food and health care.
> >
> >   Perhaps most important, it would reaffirm that raising children
is
> the role of parents, and not of global junk food corporations.
> >
> >   We strongly urge the World Health Organization to incorporate
such
> a ban into its Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health,
> and to encourage its member states to adopt it.  Or, if necessary,
the
> World Health Assembly should issue International Health Regulations
to
> prohibit advertising of junk food to children twelve years of age and
> below.
> >
> >
> >   * For the purposes of this statement, junk food is defined as
foods
> or beverages that are relatively high in saturated or trans fat,
added
> sugars or salt, and relatively low in vitamins, minerals, protein and
> fiber.


> >Gary Ruskin | Executive Director | Commercial Alert
> >gary at commercialalert.org | http://www.commercialalert.org/
> >Congressional Accountability Project |
http://www.congressproject.org/
>