News • Children's Food Campaign
New alliance formed calling for obesity reduction policies
The Children's Food Campaign announced that it is joining a new alliance of organisations coming together as a united voice in the fight against obesity and its costly consequences for the NHS. The organisations involved have joined forces to urge the government to help combat the epidemic of obesity ahead of its anticipated childhood obesity strategy.
A set of 10 priorities for action have been agreed targeting government, retailers and health professionals, which they hope will be included in the government's childhood obesity strategy, expected to be published in January 2016. A joint statement (available on the Royal College of Physicians website) covering the priorities includes key recommendations for:
- robust restrictions on unhealthy food marketing, including a 9pm watershed for TV advertising of junk food
- an independent set of incremental reformulation targets, backed by regulation for industry to reduce the sugar, saturated fat and salt in our foods
- the government to introduce a 20% tax on sugary drinks.
The Obesity Stakeholder Group comprises:
- Academy of Medical Royal Colleges
- Association for the Study of Obesity
- British Heart Foundation
- British Medical Association
- Cancer Research UK
- Children’s Food Campaign
- Diabetes UK
- Faculty of Public Health
- Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine
- The Jamie Oliver Food Foundation
- National Obesity Forum
- Royal College of General Practitioners
- Royal College of Paediatric and Child Health
- Royal College of Nursing
- Royal College of Physicians London
- Royal College of Physicians Specialist Committee on Sports and Exercise Medicine
- Royal College of Psychiatrists
- Royal Society for Public Health
- UK Health Forum
Published Monday 30 November 2015
Children's Food Campaign: Better food and food teaching for children in schools, and protection of children from junk food marketing are the aims of Sustain's high-profile Children's Food Campaign. We also want clear food labelling that can be understood by everyone, including children.
