Basics
- Event/Issue: UNICEF report highlights how “unhealthy food environments” expose children/adolescents (5–19 years) to junk food, sugary drinks, and aggressive marketing.
- Context: Childhood obesity is rising globally and in South Asia, linked to non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
- Fact: 1 in 5 children (5–19 years) globally are overweight, with children aged 5–14 most affected.
Relevance :
- GS-II: Governance (Regulation of food industries, School health).
- GS-III: Public Health, NCDs, Nutrition, SDGs (2, 3, 12).
Why in News
- UNICEF’s report (Sept 2025) shows schools, chain outlets, and advertisements as key drivers of unhealthy diets among children.
- Only 18% of 202 countries have mandatory nutrition standards for school meals; only 19% levy taxes on unhealthy/sugary foods.
Significance
- Health: Rising childhood obesity → higher risk of diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases.
- Economic: NCD burden strains public health expenditure (India spends ~1.8% of GDP on health).
- Governance: Need for stronger regulation of food industries, advertising, and school nutrition.
Overview
Polity/Legal
- Weak legal protections globally; India has FSSAI Eat Right School initiative, but no binding ban on unhealthy foods in schools.
- Advertising regulations remain fragmented.
Governance/Administrative
- Enforcement gap in school canteen guidelines.
- Need stronger inter-ministerial coordination (Health, Education, Food Processing, Consumer Affairs).
Economy
- Processed food industry growing rapidly in South Asia.
- Short-term corporate profits vs long-term public health costs (treatment of obesity-related diseases).
Society
- Children influenced by peer choices, celebrity endorsements, and social media marketing.
- Nutrition inequities: simultaneous undernutrition and obesity (“double burden of malnutrition”).
Environment/Science & Tech
- Urban food environments dominated by chain outlets and processed food supply chains.
- Tech-driven marketing algorithms target children more aggressively.
International
- Mexico, UK have sugar taxes and strict marketing restrictions with positive outcomes.
- India part of WHO’s Global NCD Action Plan, but domestic implementation remains weak.
Challenges
- Aggressive marketing by food corporations.
- Lack of mandatory national nutrition standards for schools in most countries.
- Weak taxation framework for unhealthy foods in India.
- Conflict between economic interests of food industry and public health goals.
- Low awareness among parents/teachers on nutrition literacy.
Way Forward
- Legal reforms: Enforce FSSAI guidelines → ban sale of junk food in/near schools.
- Fiscal tools: Introduce/strengthen sugar-sweetened beverage tax (recommended by WHO).
- Awareness: Scale up Eat Right India/Eat Right School campaigns, integrate into curriculum.
- Global best practices: Replicate Mexico’s sugar tax, UK’s advertising ban.
- SDGs: Align with SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 3 (Good Health), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption).
- NITI Aayog’s National Nutrition Strategy (2017) can be updated to integrate “obesity control” alongside undernutrition.
Conclusion
The UNICEF report underlines that childhood obesity is no longer a rich-country issue; it is a South Asian governance and public health challenge. A balanced approach — combining regulation, taxation, awareness, and healthier school environments — is essential to secure children’s right to healthy nutrition.
