Development of a Responsible Policy Index to Improve Statutory and Self-Regulatory Policies that Protect Children’s Diet and Health in the America’s Region

Abstract

In 2010, 193 Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) endorsed World Health Assembly Resolution WHA63.14 to restrict the marketing of food and beverage products high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) to children to prevent obesity and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). No study has examined HFSS marketing policies across the WHO regional office countries in the Americas. Between 2018 and 2019, a transdisciplinary team examined policies to restrict HFSS food and beverage product marketing to children to develop a responsible policy index (RESPI) that provides a quality score based on policy characteristics and marketing techniques. After designing the RESPI, we conducted a comprehensive literature review through October 2019 to examine policies in 14 countries in the WHO Americans Region. We categorized policies (n = 38) as either self-regulatory or statutory and calculated the RESPI scores, ranked from 0 (lowest) to 10 (highest). Results showed Brazil, Canada, Chile, and Uruguay had the highest RESPI scores associated with statutory policies that restricted point of sale, cartoon, licensed media characters and celebrities; and HFSS products in schools and child care settings, and broadcast and print media. Policymakers can use the RESPI tool to evaluate marketing policies within and across geopolitical boundaries to protect children’s diet and health.

An Assessment of Government Capacity Building to Restrict the Marketing of Unhealthy Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverage Products to Children in the Region of the Americas

“…Schools were the most prevalent settings, and product design and packaging was the marketing technique most frequently mentioned in policies, whereas digital marketing platforms, social media and websites were rarely addressed. Similar results have been shown in previous studies, where digital platforms and techniques were rarely found in assessed policies [34,35].…”

“…International trade agreements can affect obesity and NCD risk factors by facilitating trade for energy-dense nutrient-poor products. Integration of cross-border marketing into multilateral, regional and unilateral trade policies is needed to avoid weakening efforts, and public health interest must ensure policy coherence to have positive effects [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48].…”

Soft Drinks and Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Advertising in Spain: Correlation between Nutritional Values and Advertising Discursive Strategies

“…This research shows the importance of highlighting the need for stricter regulations in beverage advertising. At the same time, the results also show the need to take, as an example, some other countries that have developed tools to evaluate marketing and advertising policies within and across geopolitical boundaries to protect children's diets and health [7]. In order to prevent a health problem with implications as serious at various levels as childhood obesity, advertising strategies that do not comply with the regulations should be sanctioned.…”

“…Several studies have indicated a relationship between the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and soft drinks and childhood obesity [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Some of them have also emphasized that sugar-sweetened beverages are the primary source of added sugar in the diets of children [8,15].…”

Food environment solutions for childhood obesity in Latin America and among Latinos living in the United States

“…87 , 88 Furthermore, self‐regulatory policies only attempt to limit marketing to children under age 12 and do not address tactics that disproportionately appeal to younger children (e.g., licensed characters and promotions). 89 Indeed, an evaluation of industry self‐regulation initiatives in the Americas rated them all as “low quality.” 90 …”