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A newly published set of WHO nutritional criteria aims to protect children from marketing that promotes unhealthy food and non-alcoholic beverages. The WHO/Europe Nutrient Profile Model (NPM) enables the classification of food products to determine whether they are healthy enough to be advertised to children. It can be used by decision-makers to develop policies to improve the overall nutritional quality of diets and to support monitoring initiatives, thereby reducing pressure on children and ensuring the promotion of healthier diets to lower the risks of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).
So-called healthy snacks are not always healthy
Unhealthy diets are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the WHO European Region, and have a significant impact on obesity and overweight levels. In 46 of the 53 countries of the Region, more than 50% of the population and 1 in 3 children are living with overweight or obesity.
Childhood obesity is likely to continue into adulthood, which puts children at risk of developing diabetes, cancer and other NCDs. In the European Region alone, unhealthy diets cause more than 1 million deaths each year.
“We have many food and beverage brands that promote their unhealthy products to children. We see self-regulatory approaches in many countries, which have been shown to be inefficient in protecting children from being exposing to this type of marketing,” says Dr Kremlin Wickramasinghe, ad interim Head of the WHO European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCD Office).
“So, we have developed a set of nutritional criteria to determine whether food products are suitable to be marketed to children and adolescents. Decision-makers can use this model as a guide to shape policies, improve the food environment and protect children’s health.”
Protecting children’s diets
The updated, second edition of the NPM is one of WHO/Europe’s tools that aim to address the high burden of NCDs caused by unhealthy diets in many countries of the Region. It was developed in collaboration with Professor Mike Rayner from the University of Oxford (United Kingdom), with the support of the Best-ReMaP Joint Action of the European Union.
Cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer are among the diseases linked to diets with high levels of saturated fats, trans-fatty acids, free sugars or salt. Children and adolescents are especially vulnerable to unethical food marketing through any channel – from television to online video games to social media.
Such advertisements can target children aged 3 years and upwards, making it crucial to have comprehensive and clear guidelines in place on the types of food products that can be marketed to children. As nutrient profiling allows foods to be classified, decision-makers can use it to restrict inappropriate promotion techniques aimed directly at children.
WHO tool for improving baby foods
The NCD Office also recently produced the Nutrient and Promotion Profile Model (NPPM) with the WHO Collaborating Centre for Nutritional Epidemiology at the University of Leeds (United Kingdom). This tool uses information on product packaging to assess commercial baby foods for infants up to 3 years old.
“It’s the first nutrient profile model to focus on infant foods,” points out Dr Wickramasinghe. “It helps to assess not only nutrients, but also the promotion techniques of baby food producers. In addition, the tool is available online for every stakeholder who wants to use it to assess the baby food market in their national context. These kinds of data are a driving force of evidence-based policies.”
