Marketing unhealthy food to children in Asia Pacific - Consumers ...

In Asia Pacific, childhood overweight and obesity ratesare rising faster than anywhere else in the world. In SouthEast Asia, between 2005 and 2010 overweight andobesity levels for the school-aged population is expectedto rise by 27.5%. In Western Pacific the figure is 23.5% 6 .The WHO has estimated that noncommunicablediseases cause around 60%of deaths a year and the majorityof these deaths occur in low andmiddle-income countriesThe role of food marketingMany factors contribute to the risk of developing obesity.One that has been identified is the way that unhealthyfood or products that are energy dense and nutrient poorare marketed to children.In 2006, the WHO’s Technical Meeting on Marketing ofFood and Non-Alcoholic Beverages to Children concludedthat exposure to the promotion of energy dense, nutrientpoor foods and beverages can adversely affect children’seating habits. They advised that robust science andresearch shows that there is extensive food and beveragepromotion to children; children are aware of, appreciativeof, and engage with this promotion. They also found thatthe marketing is overwhelmingly for energy-dense,micronutrient-poor foods, which underminesrecommendations for a healthy diet.Professor Gerard Hastings in his review of the evidence 7for the WHO concluded that children in developingcountries may be more vulnerable to advertising ofunhealthy food because:• They are less familiar with advertising in general.• They are a key entry point for companies as they aremore responsive than their parents.• They may associate Western multinational companybrands with a desirable modern lifestyle.The Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health,which was agreed at the World Health Assembly (WHA)in May 2004 8 , recognises that in order to create anenvironment that enables a healthier diet and morephysical activity, a number of factors must be tackledsimultaneously. One of the issues identified is foodmarketing, which includes advertising, sponsorship andpromotion. Since the adoption of the Global Strategy, theevidence for action on food marketing to children hasstrengthened further.Multinational companies have beenable to exploit the lack of controls andregulations on marketing andadvertising in developing countriesOverall the WHO concluded that advertising has anadverse effect on children’s understanding of foodknowledge, attitude, purchase behaviour andconsumption.Multinational companies have been able to exploit thelack of controls and regulations on marketing andadvertising in developing countries and have been usinga range of techniques to promote foods, which are highin fat, sugar and salt to children. The CI/IOTF Codedefines ‘children’ as younger than 16 years old.Fast food in FijiThe food trap11