‘Invisible pandemic’: Alberta receives failing grade for nutrition

CTV News Edmonton

The province of Alberta has been given a failing grade on its nutrition report card on food environments for children and youth. Kim Raine, a distinguished professor in the University of Alberta’s School of Public Health explained to CTV News the general trend of nutrition-focused public health policies are worsening rather than improving and a D is the lowest grade recorded in the last seven years. “Diet is only the second to tobacco for the number one premature cause of death in Canada,” she said. “Without using some of those strategies that we used in tobacco control… some of those strategies used in COVID-19, then we’re not taking nutrition seriously and it’s time for us to wake up to the fact that we have an invisible pandemic of diet-related chronic diseases.” Read more

Heavy opposition to London’s junk food ad ban uncovered

Sustainweb. org 

New research from the University of Bath reveals that companies mounted strong opposition behind the scenes to the London policy to restrict advertising for high fat, salt and sugar products across the transport network. Companies opposed the policy through official channels as well as trying to influence through more direct approaches such as informal calls. In one case, KFC invited a Childhood Obesity Taskforce member on a ‘magical mystery tour’ of London eateries and a tour of Brixton. Read more

Healthy diets linked to better mental health and wellbeing

Medical Xpress 

A healthy diet was linked to better mental health and wellbeing, highlighting the need for more strategies to warn families off junk food, according to a new study. The research, led by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and published in the British Journal of Nutrition, found that diets high in inflammatory foods were associated with poorer mental wellbeing in children aged 11 to 12 years. Highly processed foods, including those high in sugar or salt, are known to cause inflammation and negatively affect physical health. Read more

 

Sugary UK children’s yoghurts named and shamed by researchers

The Guardian 

Nearly two-thirds of the yogurts marketed at children provide at least a third of a four- to six-year-old’s maximum daily intake of added sugars, according to research that calls for a ban on child-friendly packaging. Katharine Jenner, the campaign director at Action on Sugar, said: “Clever marketing techniques such as advertising, promotions and packaging are powerful tools to get children hooked on the sweet stuff from a young age and for life.” Read more

 

 

Obesity among children ages 5 to 11 rises during the pandemic

Washington Post 

Childhood obesity rose significantly during the pandemic, according to a new study that analyzed electronic health records for nearly 200,000 young people in the Kaiser Permanente health network in Southern California. The greatest change was among children ages 5 to 11, who gained an average of more than five pounds, adjusted for height, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network. For the average 5-year-old (about 40 pounds), that’s a 12.5 percent weight gain. Read more

 

Harmful marketing threatens children’s right to healthy food

Devex .com 

Will Brett Harding argues that a child rights-based approach would demonstrate the universality of harmful commercial marketing to children, and of the need to protect children from products that cause harm, as we know unhealthy food and beverages do. Read more

Bite Back 2030 – a youth led campaign against junk food – team up with Dulwich Hamlet Football Club 

Brixton Buzz 

As part of their campaign to end the link between junk food advertising and sport Bite Back has teamed up with the club to set an example to others of what can be done to promote child health instead. The deal was announced after a summer working hard to highlight the extent to which sport is being used to give junk food a starring role in children’s minds, from Coca-Cola’s sponsorship of the Olympics to the cricket Hundred, where the players are dressed up as giant crisp packets. Read more

 

If You Think Kids Are Eating Mostly Junk Food, A New Study Finds You’re Right

NPR 

Two-thirds — or 67% — of calories consumed by children and adolescents in 2018 came from ultra-processed foods, a jump from 61% in 1999, according to a peer-reviewed study published in the medical journal JAMA. Read more 

 

School routes swimming in junk food ads

Medical Xpress
A study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health revealed that of the 4016 advertisements observed along 7 bus, walking and train routes to 4 Perth high schools almost half were for food and 80 percent advertised junk food.  Only 8 per cent advertised healthy foods. Read more

Adolescents bombarded with junk food marketing on social media 

Medical Xpress
According to new research from the University of Wollongong, for every hour that an Australian child spends online on their phone, they view more than 17 food and drink ads, a figure that is almost nine times higher than their exposure via tv advertising. Associate Professor Bridget Kelly, the lead researcher on the study, said the rate of promotion for unhealthy food was 50 times higher than the rate for healthier products. Read more