One in three children age 6-9 is now overweight or obese placing them at high risk of diet-related chronic diseases such as heart disease and some cancers. A recent study from the World Health Organization warns that this is a global crisis, “overweight is one of the biggest public health challenges of the 21st century: all countries are affected to varying extents, particularly in the lower socioeconomic groups.”
“The marketing of unhealthy foods to children has proven “disastrously effective”, driving obesity by using cheap social media channels to promote fat-, salt- and sugar-laden foods, the World Health Organisation’s Europe office said on Tuesday.
The United Nations health agency called for tighter controls on such marketing, saying tougher regulations were crucial to winning the fight against childhood obesity.” See: WHO urges tougher food marketing rules to curb childhood obesity.
We have to start seeing this issue for what it is: the failure of adults to protect and promote the health of children is a form of neglect and abuse. We have stigmatized and made illegal other forms of child abuse, time to broaden our thinking.
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