The power of advertisements to influence human behaviour, including eating behaviour, is well-established. It is, therefore, no surprise to see the kind of resources that go into the making of advertisements. I remember how as a child my nephew would always want to try out every new food product advertised on television.
Children are easy prey to advertisements because of the attractive product packaging and other advertising techniques such as the use of popular cartoon characters. At this point, I will also tell you that I have been successful at getting many youngsters to eat spinach by citing Popeye’s example.
The power of such visuals can surely be leveraged to get kids to eat healthier, but one must be aware when food companies do the same to promote their product. India is home to a very large number of undernourished children, but it may surprise you to know that in 2017, India was the second-most populous country after China to face the overweight-obesity epidemic. The 14.4 million obese children in India in 2017 is expected to rise to approximately 17 million in 2025. Being overweight and obese is also a form of malnutrition and its implications are felt on the overall health of the individual and often for a lifetime. The good news is that Singapore has taken the lead in banning advertisements for unhealthy high-sugar drinks across all ad platforms — print, broadcast and digital. Such an intervention is necessary in the light of growing rates of chronic non-communicable diseases, particularly obesity and diabetes.
Replacing plain water with the widely advertised sugary beverages has become an increasingly common phenomenon among children from affluent families. These sugary beverages are highly addictive, and it takes a tremendous amount of effort and perseverance to wean children away from these. Having worked closely with children on the many nutritional issues that they face, I continue to emphasise that the investments one makes in helping children develop good eating habits is an extremely worthwhile one as it pays rich dividends. We all know that once formed, habits are hard to break. Childhood obesity is also a hard-to-crack condition, because an obese child has a very high chance of becoming an obese adult.
It is imperative to create a healthy eating environment for our children. Banning ads that promote sugary drinks is a step in the right direction. Countries such as Canada and Quebec have restrictions on advertisements for unhealthy foods for children. In India, the ‘fat tax’ imposed in Kerala was a measure undertaken to reduce the consumption of unhealthy foods. Effective nutrition labelling on food items and trans fat regulations are all helpful measures to reduce malnutrition in all its forms.