Health advocates demand regulations on consumption of junk food ads

A group of public health experts, consumers, lawyers, and patient groups have called upon the Government of India to check the soaring consumption of junk food among the country's youth.

"India faces a severe public health crisis of obesity and diabetes. As the 2023 ICMR-INDIAB study shows, there are 100 million cases of diabetes and one in every four individuals is either suffering from diabetes or is pre-diabetic or obese," stated a report titled The Junk Push, jointly brought out by the Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI) and NAPi – a national think tank working on nutrition policy.

"New data collected via the Poshan tracker revealed that 43 lakh children under the age of five are obese or overweight," the report added. This is just 6 per cent of total children tracked.

Consumption of junk food is one of the major reasons behind this rising number of non-communicable diseases seen in young adults and children. To check this consumption, the report urges the government to take note of advertisements by companies producing foods containing high levels of sugar and salt.

"We believe these ads are misleading," said NAPi in the report, while adding, "advertisements commonly rely on celebrity endorsements, emotional appeals, unsubstantiated health claims, and targeted children. None of the advertisements provided the 'most important information' demanded by the Consumer Protection Act 2019, for a food product – the amount of sugar, salt, or saturated fat in it."

"Existing regulatory policies remain ineffective to minimise any advertisements of junk foods, which are mostly misleading and especially directed at children and adolescents," said Arun Gupta, a paediatrician and convenor of NAPi.

Public health advocates behind the report have also pushed for better laws to control the public health crisis of non-communicable diseases.

"There is a distinct possibility to mobilise a Bill in the Parliament, which could be more effective in bridging the gaps in the current regulatory system," said Chander Uday Singh, a senior lawyer at the Supreme Court.

According to an August 2023 study by WHO India, the retail sale of ultra-processed foods in India grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.37 per cent between 2011 and 2021.