Globally, one in five children aged 5-19 is overweight, according to journalist Charity Kilei. Our blog has previously tackled the subject of what happens when a nation becomes fed up with the careless and irresponsible feeding of children. Since governments, for various reasons, cannot or will not stop companies from selling products they should be ashamed to call edible, decisions have been made aimed instead at reducing awareness of those products’ existence.
Relentlessly, childhood obesity has invaded here, there, and everywhere. In recent years, one country after another has become fed up with using its resources to treat increasing numbers of cases of heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and other maladies, even including some cancers, that result from HFSS diets — those initials representing, of course, high levels of fat, salt, and sugar.
The Earth groans under multitudes of overweight children. Of course, the statistics vary somewhat from place to place, but in general, worldwide, among the 5- to 19-year age span, one young person among every five is carrying around too many pounds, liters, stones, kilograms, or whatever the local unit of measurement happens to be.
A long history
For centuries, the religious establishment has recognized that if education is left in its hands until a child reaches the age of 7, the indoctrination pretty much lasts for a lifetime. Junk food advertising works in exactly the same way.
As mentioned, it has been a while since Childhood Obesity News brought up this topic, but the archives are bounteously filled with it. An 11-part series on “Selling Crap to Kids” appeared here three years ago. Quite some time before that, we featured a five-part series on “Television Advertising and Childhood Obesity.” But despite our best efforts (and those of multiple concerned organizations), the situation has continued to deteriorate.
Around the world with junk food
Kilei names France, Norway, Sweden, and South Korea as countries that have already enacted measures to limit the sort of advertising that children, to their detriment, were routinely absorbing. In the United Kingdom, the decision has been made to keep the harmful advertising off television before 9:00 in the evening, and around the clock on the Internet:
The UK government estimates the new regulations will remove up to 7.2 billion calories from children’s diets each year, prevent around 20,000 cases of childhood obesity, and generate approximately £2 billion in long-term health benefits.
In England, nearly one-quarter of all the children who start primary school each year are already overweight, and by the time they are through with those grades, the number is more like 35%. But this is not the only issue. In the 5-to-9-year age group, the major reason for hospital admissions is tooth decay. For this and other reasons, the U.K. had already cracked down on “soft drinks,” which, though they are filled with sugar, exert an effect that is far from sweet on the children’s health and the nation’s budget.
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) even started to voluntarily comply early, last fall, partly encouraged by the fact that they are still permitted to advertise sugar-free versions of oat cereal granola, and muesli:
In Kenya, if current trends persist, projections suggest that by 2030, more than 1 million children aged 5–19 could be living with obesity.
Kenya is also planning tighter controls to better protect children. There, the Ministry of Health announced plans to, if not forbid, at least tame the commercial glorification of unhealthy foods, and is developing a Nutrient Profile Model to illustrate the expectations regarding the promotion of salt, sugar, and saturated fats.
Countries that are working on this issue look to the pioneers like Singapore, where “similar policies have been effective.” But the World Health Organization (WHO) has not found voluntary measures alone to be successful anywhere:
Globally, an estimated 188 million children and adolescents aged 5-19 are living with obesity, representing about 9.4 per cent of that age group. This marks a sharp rise from around 3 per cent in 2000. In total, approximately 391 million children and adolescents aged 5-19 are overweight.
Somehow, and this does not speak well for us as responsible citizens and parents, the government always has to get involved and make laws if real progress is to even be hoped for.
Your responses and feedback are welcome!
Source: “UK follows France, Sweden and South Korea in banning junk food ads for children,” EastLeighVoice.co.ke, 01/05/26
Image by Laborrate/Pixabay
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