While India celebrates Children’s Day on November 14 every year, many countries celebrate it on November 20 to commemorate the adoption of the UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959. India, as a signatory to the declaration, has been unequivocally articulating its commitment to safeguarding the rights of its children. This was echoed in the recent G20 declaration, which underscored the importance of providing good nutrition and sustainable development to ensure a better future for our children. It is time we paid attention to the rights of our children with respect to food.
While the persistent problems of undernutrition among children and adolescents continue to badger India, the growing rates of obesity and non-communicable diseases highlighted by national surveys raise deep concerns. Although there could be several factors contributing to these nutritional issues, addressing food consumption patterns by modifying food environments needs immediate thought and a sustainable approach.
The food environment of our children is shaped by a complex interplay of factors that include diverse cultural and traditional practices, economic status, food availability, accessibility, affordability and acceptability, familial distribution, peer influence, and aggressive advertising by the food industry.
Today, it almost seems we are moving towards a food environment where the access and affordability of diverse healthy foods are being compromised, while ultra-processed and unhealthy foods are becoming more available, accessible and even affordable. It is time we re-examined food environments and took a food systems approach to address the influences on children’s diets and nutrition. But what does a food systems approach entail? It takes into consideration the entire chain in a food system, from production to processing and distribution to consumption while underscoring sustainability.
In our current food systems frameworks, the power lies with large multinational corporations, which exert a strong force in altering the food environment and promoting the consumption of less healthy foods and beverages.
In such a scenario, a shift in power towards children—or those who uphold children’s rights—is important to prioritise children’s well-being. Government policies that aim to make nutrition a people’s movement, school health and wellness programmes, creating awareness about labelling, diversifying school meals and strengthening regulations can significantly impact the quality of children’s environments and diets. No doubt that schools can also play a critical role in shaping children’s food environments, and nutrition education in schools and communities can empower youngsters to make informed food choices. But is it only about a lack of awareness or bad food choices? Focusing on nutrition communication for behaviour modification among kids or their parents—that is, bombarding them with nutrition messages—can only have a limited impact. Focusing on individual behaviours alone is almost like blaming the problem as an individual one and turning a blind eye to the factors that prompt food choices.
The food environments of our children are complex tapestries woven with many threads, from the food they are offered at school or home to the advertisements they see on television. No single sector can address this challenge in isolation. A holistic approach embracing expertise is needed. But how to go about it? Here are a few questions to ponder over.
Communication beyond beneficiary: Is our public health communication robust enough to bring various sectors to the table, along with the children themselves, to ensure a comprehensive grasp of the issues?
Food processing, not ultra-processed food: As the prime minister said at the World Food India 2023 recently, India no doubt is looking at food processing as the sunrise industry. It is estimated to be at over `33,000 crore and is growing at over 14 percent a year. But as he envisions, it should aim to minimise food losses and waste, support agriculture, empower people, and ensure nutrition security. Are we communicating that we support food processing only to the extent that nutrition is not compromised and that we are not for supporting ultra-processed foods?
Communicating not only about food: Children and adolescents are consumers in their own right and have an influence on family food choices. Therefore, nutrition literacy and education should be well-rounded to cover not only food but also all other factors that influence choices, so that they do not become gullible. Do our nutrition communication efforts go beyond food and cover the broader social, economic and cultural factors that influence children’s dietary habits?
Convergence in messaging: Child nutrition falls under the ambit of the women and child development ministry; nutrition research and food regulation are under the health ministry; food production under the agriculture ministry; food processing is a separate ministry, food industry as a whole is under ministry of industries too, distribution is under the consumer affairs ministry, and school meal programmes are under the education ministry. Are these ministries in continuous conversation with each other about nutrition for our children as envisaged in the Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition (POSHAN) Abhiyaan? With many government departments and other organisations working to promote children’s nutrition, are we taking enough care to ensure uniformity in the discourse?
While POSHAN provides a framework for collaborations to better understand the state of children’s nutrition and food environments, a united front comprising multiple sectors would have the power to advocate positive changes. It can champion regulations that limit unhealthy food marketing to children, improve the nutritional quality of school meals and accessibility of healthy foods, and promote informed choices. Nutrition communication may not be a sufficient condition but it is necessary if we want to address the tilting balance of adolescent nutrition. Cross-sector collaborations and communication are now more required than ever. This is a promise we ought to make to our children now.
Dr SubbaRao M Gavaravarapu
Scientist and Head, Nutrition Information, Communication and Health Education Division, ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad