More kids overweight than underweight: UN
Globally, being overweight is now the dominant form of malnutrition among school-age children and adolescents, having overtaken thinness (being underweight), Unicef’s latest report reveals. It said 20% (one in five) of children between 5-19 years were overweight in 2022, while only 10% or one in 10 were underweight. This was a sharp change from 2000, when 13% were underweight and 11% overweight.The report held the ultra-processed food and beverage industry responsible for this and urged govts to take steps to protect kids’ diets. The Unicef report urged countries to limit the availability, marketing and purchase of unhealthy foods and beverages, including ultra-processed foods (UPF). The report titled ‘Feeding Profit: How food environments are failing children’ elaborates on how the ultra-processed food and beverage industry holds disproportionate influence over children’s food environments. “It (UPF and beverage industry) shapes what foods and beverages are produced and how they are marketed, especially in settings where govt regulation is weak or absent. In pursuit of profit, the industry leverages vast financial resources and deep political influence to resist policies aimed at creating healthier, more equitable food environments,” stated the report.According to the report, low and middle-income countries are experiencing the steepest rise in the proportion of the overweight among school-age children and adolescents. It found that unhealthy foods and beverages, including ultra-processed foods and beverages, were widely available, inexpensive and aggressively marketed in the places where children live, learn and play. It added that inexpensive UPFs and beverages were flooding retail markets and infiltrating schools. It cited a study in Tanzania and Zimbabwe which revealed how public-private partnerships have enabled ultra-processed food companies to distribute ultra-processed products in schools, build brand loyalty among young learners and strengthen their corporate reputation. “The unethical business practices of the ultra-processed food and beverage industry undermine efforts to put legal measures and policies in place to protect children from unhealthy food environments,” stated the report.Recommendations for govts included the establishment of “robust safeguards to protect public policy processes from interference by the ultra-processed food industry”. This includes conflict-of-interest safeguards, the exclusion of UPF and beverage industry actors from involvement in policy development and implementation.
