from the EU/US Conference, Good practices: Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health. Brussels 12th May 2006. The Conference took place in the Commission’s Charlemagne building, with closing addresses by Commissioner Kyprianou and US Deputy Secretary for Health and Human Services Alex Azar.
This is a time of public health crisis and significant, sustainable action must be taken which is commensurate with the severity of the problem. Governments are responsible for safeguarding the health of their populations and should make fundamental changes in the food environment, rather than focusing primarily on education programmes aimed at changing individual behaviour. No public health epidemic has ever been resolved by attention to individual responsibility alone. This one too will require government leadership, protections and changes to the structural environment. {}
Experience from the USA and EU reveals that self-regulation of advertising and marketing has not demonstrated positive effects. In fact, diet-related disease has skyrocketed during the period of “self regulation.” The NGOs call for an immediate moratorium on the promotion of junk food (low nutritional value) to children, including health related claims on foods for young children, and a halt to all promotion of breastmilk substitutes. There should be no marketing of junk food on TV, Internet, in schools, or other new media venues including but not limited to viral, cell phones, and other emerging techniques.
All commercial activity by companies marketing foods of low nutritional value must cease in schools, including industry-funded ‘educational materials.’ which blur the boundaries between advertising, marketing and independent information and allow companies to gain the trust of parents, children and teachers while continuing to market products irresponsibly.
Public health authorities should establish targets for industry wide reductions in fat, sugar and salt in accordance with nutritional profiles established by public health authorities. Best practice should be implemented globally.
The NGOs call for the clear distinction of roles and responsibilities for the various sectors (NGOs, government, and industry) in the process of developing policies to protect against death and disability from diet-related diseases. They highlighted the risks of government working in partnership with the food industry and allowing the food industry undue influence over the policy making process. While recognizing the important role of industry, the Platform should address conflicts of interest.
Physical activity is an important part of the solution and requires significant changes in city planning, transportation and exercise, matters that are beyond the remit of the food industry.
Bruce Silverglade, Legal Director, Centre for Science in the Public Interest Lori Dorfman, Director, Berkeley Media Studies Group, Larry Cohen and Leslie Mikkelsen, Prevention Institute, Elizabeth Imholz, Consumers Union of US., Inc Patti Rundall, International Baby Food Action Network Susanne Logstrup, European Heart Network Prof Claude Bouchard, President, International Association for the Study of Obesity Prof Peter Kopelman, European Association for the Study of Obesity Prof Philip James, Neville Rigby, International Obesity Task Force
European Commission information about the Conference:
he EU-US Conference on Diet, Physical Activity and Health took place in the Commission’s Charlemagne building, with closing addresses by Commissioner Kyprianou and US Deputy Secretary for Health and Human ServiTces Alex Azar.
As part of a wide range of initiatives to tackle obesity, including a Green Paper on Nutrition, proposed legislation on health and nutritional claims and a review of food labelling legislation, the Commission is working in partnership with the EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, which was launched in March 2005. The Platform brings together 34 key players from the food industry and civil society to boost voluntary initiatives across the EU. The Platform has released summaries of its 2005 baseline and 2006 commitments for action. These represent a first set of 96 pledges its members have made to tackle obesity across the EU, including information campaigns to promote healthy lifestyles, reducing amounts of sugar and salt in food, improving nutritional information on packages and pledging not to market directly to children. The Commission has welcomed these commitments as a significant first step and will evaluate how closely they are put into practice.