New nutritional guidelines and criteria have arrived from the World Health Organization (WHO Europe) which aim to protect children from unhealthy food marketing, ‘protecting them’ from advertising unhealthy foods and drinks. The risk thresholds for fats, sugars and salt of 18 food categories were identified, from snacks to fruit juices, providing the nutritional characteristics for each product.
The nutrient profile model published by WHO/Europe allows for the classification of food products to determine whether they are healthy enough to be advertised to children. It can be used, WHO explains, by decision makers to develop policies to improve the overall nutritional quality of diets and to support monitoring initiatives, thus reducing the pressure on children and ensuring the promotion of healthier diets to reduce the risks of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The updated nutritional model has been tested by 13 Member States and modified to reflect advances in science and changes in food policies and environments since the development of the original model in 2015.
The so-called healthy snacks, notes WHO Europe, “are not always healthy”. Unhealthy diets are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the WHO European Region and have a significant impact on obesity and overweight levels. In 46 of the 53 countries in the Region, over 50% of the population and 1 in 3 children live with overweight or obesity. Childhood obesity is likely to continue into adulthood, putting children at risk of developing diabetes, cancer and other noncommunicable diseases. In the European Region alone, unhealthy diets cause more than 1 million deaths each year. “We have many food and beverage brands promoting their unhealthy products to children. We see self-regulatory approaches in many countries, which have proven inefficient in protecting children from exposure to this type of marketing,” says Kremlin Wickramasinghe, chief executive officer. interim of the WHO European Office for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases. Therefore, he points out, “we have developed a set of nutritional criteria to determine whether food products are suitable to be marketed to children and adolescents. Decision makers can use this model as a guide to define policies, improve the food environment and protect children’s health“.
Cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer are among the diseases linked to diets high in saturated fat, trans fatty acids, sugar or salt. Children and adolescents, WHO says, “are particularly vulnerable to unethical food marketing through any channel, from television to online video games to social media. Such advertisements can target children aged 3 and over, making it essential to have lines complete and clear guidance on the types of food products that can be marketed to children. Since the nutrient profile allows for the classification of foods themselves, decision makers can use it to limit inappropriate promotion techniques targeting children directly.”