Global diet and exercise plan approved

Food industry lobbyists were outflanked by the World Health Organization when delegates at the World Health Assembly in Geneva this May endorsed the world's first global strategy on diet and exercise.

Figure. Breaking the cycle of inactivity and poor eating. Photo by: Art Explosion

The strategy, branded a “landmark achievement in global public health policy” by WHO Assistant Director General Dr. Catherine Le Galès-Camus, offers detailed guidance for national governments on promoting healthy eating and exercise (www.who.int).

Controversially, it stresses the need to limit the consumption of saturated fats, transfatty acids, salt and sugars (CMAJ 2003;168[12]:1585). It also says food marketing to children should be curbed.

The small WHO team responsible for the strategy spent 2 years in consultations but still faced fierce opposition.

The sugar lobby and the soft drink manufacturers set out to convince sugar-producing countries that the strategy should be shelved for at least a year.

Spokesperson for the International Obesity Task Force Neville Rigby said the adoption of the plan is the climax of recent developments in the fight against obesity, particularly in North America.

“There is a bushfire spreading across the USA. Consumers are getting angry ... they can see what is happening to their children.”

How quickly national governments now act depends partly on the lobbying efforts of the private sector. Rigby contrasted the lobbying from the sugar industry with that of companies who are recognizing that they have to be part of the solution.

In a key move just days before the assembly debate, the Grocery Manufacturers of America and the Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries of the European Union announced they backed the WHO strategy. — Colin Meek, Wester Ross, Scotland