Over the past three decades, obesity has doubled. In some European countries, along with overweight, it afflicts half the population, one in three children. A serious situation, for which the WHO blames the food industry.
The production of unhealthy foods and their promotion to consumers fuels obesity and seriously threatens public health, denounces WHO Director-General Margaret Chan, who in early July 2013, in Vienna at the Ministers’ Conference on Nutrition and Non-Communicable Diseases, pointed a finger at the industry that “funds research that helps maintain confusion among consumers” about the real causes of obesity, instead of devoting itself to reformulating food and beverage recipes “so that healthy products become the norm rather than a niche segment.” Charges, moreover, already made in 2011. And shared by the European director for WHO, Zsuzsanna Jakab, who points out that voluntary agreements have not brought any benefits.
