(c) Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Berlin, Deutschland.
New York & Geneva — A UN expert has warned that if decisive action is not taken to curb the availability of unhealthy food and regulating harmful food marketing practices, more people will die from food-related illnesses. He emphasised that children in particular were susceptible to harmful junk food advertising.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Professor De Schutter, an expert in human rights and international law warned a panel on the eve of a high level UN summit to be held on Monday 19th that almost 3 million people die annually of diet related illnesses and that 50% of public health organisations expenditure is spent on treating patients affected by non-communicable food-related diseases such as obesity, heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
Schutter warned that “voluntary guidelines” have proved ineffective at tackling the problem and implored “world leaders” not to “bow to industry pressure” by implementing policies that are not “translated into concrete action,” he said, “it is unacceptable that when lives are at stake, we go no further than soft, promotional measures that ultimately rely on consumer choice, without addressing the supply side of the food chain.”
He also attributed the importance of the introduction of initiatives to counter the availability of unhealthy food by implementing strategies that are aimed at food production processes and also attributed lax agricultural policies that encouraged the mass production of unhealthy food at the expense of more nutritious food such as fruit and vegetables.
Schutter emphasised that the increased globalisation of the food supply chain, where the availability and supply of “energy-rich” and “nutrient-poor” food were particularly appealing to “poor consumers” in developing countries.
“The public health consequences are dramatic, and they affect disproportionately those with the lowest incomes,” said Shutter.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) around 2.8 million adults die each year as a result of being overweight or obese, 44% are burdened by diabetes, 23% develop heart disease and 7%-41% of certain cancer are attributed to overweight and obesity. A new report on non-communicable diseases (NCD) published by the WHO — Wednesday (14th), found that noncommunicable diseases were responsible for killing 36 million people in 2008, cardiovascular diseases were responsible for 48% of these deaths, cancers 21%, chronic respiratory diseases 12%, and diabetes 3%.
“These diseases are made more likely by unhealthy lifestyles, and particularly an unbalanced diet lacking in nutrients. It is crucial for world leaders to counter food industry efforts to sell unbalanced processed products and ready-to-serve meals too rich in trans fats and saturated fats, salt and sugars. Food advertising is proven to have a strong impact on children, and must be strictly regulated in order to avoid the development of bad eating habits early in life,” Shutter said.
Professor Olivier De Schutter was appointed the Special Rapporteur on the right to food in May 2008 by the United Nations Human Rights Council. He is independent from any government or organization.
The UN General Assembly meeting on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases will be held on 19 and 20 September 2011 in New York and is tasked with producing agreement on a strategy document.
The International Globe 
Discussion
Comments are closed.