Posts

Sugar tax, prominent labels reduce sugar consumption, Ontario study suggests

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Toronto Star

A University of Waterloo study suggests that taxes on sugary products and labels on the front of packages can help reduce sugar consumption. The study, which included more than 3,500 people aged 13 and over on their purchasing behaviour last spring, also found that taxes could have the greatest impact if 100 percent fruit juice was included in reduction efforts. Read article here.
Read the study here

How Senate can work across party lines to stop the marketing of junk food to children

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The Province

A great article by Dr. Tom Warshawski (Chair, Childhood Obesity Foundation) and Yves Savoie (CEO, Heart and Stroke) highlighting the bipartisan journey of Bill S-228, Senate’s delay and what’s at stake. (originally published in the Hill Times on 16 April 2019).
Excerpt: “The Senate has the choice of either protecting the health of our children by passing Bill S-228 in a timely manner or protecting the interests of the industry food lobby by continuing to delay its passage… The bill is a perfect example of how a non-partisan Senate can use its plentiful resources to study a problem, propose solutions and then introduce strong legislation that supports the government’s mandate. This is the Senate at its best”. Read full OpEd here…

Simple way to inoculate teens against junk food advertising

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Science Daily

Researchers find diets improve when tapping adolescents’ desire to rebel; teenage boys cut back junk food purchases by 31 percent. Read here…

Labeling added sugars content on packaged foods and beverages could lower heart disease/diabetes risk and cut healthcare costs

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American Heart Association

A label showing added sugars content on all packaged foods and sugary drinks could have substantial health and cost-saving benefits in the United States over the next 20 years, according to a new study published in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation. Read here…

Majority of supermarket foods targeted to Canadian kids aren’t healthy, UCalgary research finds

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UCalgary News
A new study led by Dr. Charlene Elliott evaluating 374 food products sold in Calgary supermarkets shows the majority of those targeted to kids would not be permitted for marketing to kids under new policies being considered by the federal government. Read uCalgary news here…

Read the study here

UNICEF Canada supports call for federal Commissioner for Children and Youth

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Canada Newswire

UNICEF Canada references the debate around marketing to children in a recent press release. Read press release here…

IT’S TIME TO BRING FOOD MARKETING BILL TO A VOTE IN THE SENATE: SENATOR DEAN

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Senate of Canada [reprint]

Great Oped by Senator Dean.

“If Canada’s Senate is to be recognized as a modern and important part of our legislative process, it must work efficiently. This means devoting time to providing constructive improvements to important legislation while passing promptly those bills that have already gone through due process, such as Bill S-228. This is good business planning and our children and our families are counting on it”.

Read full OpEd on Senate of Canada here…

Science-based Food Policies: What Works, What Doesn’t

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UC Food Observer

An interview with Dr. Lorrene Ritchie who has devoted her career to developing interdisciplinary, science-based and culturally relevant solutions to child obesity. Read interview here…

A drug to prevent 1 in 5 deaths? It’s called ‘food’

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CBC News

A study published this week in The Lancet determined that 11 million deaths in 2017 were associated with the failure to take advantage of this simple health intervention.

“We found that improvement of diet could potentially prevent one in every five deaths globally,” the authors wrote. More than half of diet-related deaths and many diet-related disabilities were attributed to three factors: too much salt, too few whole grains and not enough fruits. Read full article here…

Read the study here

Parents being misled over kids’ snacks, says child health expert

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BBC

The health claims made on the product packaging for a large proportion of foods marketed to children in the UK are ‘confusing’, and could be contributing to rising rates of childhood obesity, suggests research published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood. Read article here…

Read the full report here.