ICMR panel asks to impose tax on high fat and sugar foods to fight teen adolescent obesity
The group led by ICMR called for immediate action to improve the food environment, as the obesity rate between adolescents in India.
In short
- Excess weight and obesity in adolescence is a public health challenge
- ICMR -led consortium suggested to impose health tax on high fat, Chinese foods
- It demanded regulation of food advertisements
A National Association led by India’s major medical panel is demanding health tax on high foods in fat, sugar and salt and also strict rules around food marketing.
The group led by the Indian Council of Medical Research- National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR-NIN) called for immediate action to improve food environment for young people, as the obesity rate among adolescents in India.
The National Consultation urged India’s Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI) in guidelines, urging to ban the sale of fats, sugar and salt in canteens.
Policy briefs were issued on 28 March on regulating food advertisements, taxing taxes in fats, sugar and salt and improving food labels among youth. A comic book, to help students understand the food label and also introduced a model nutrition course for schools.
Niti Aayog Member Dr. VK Paul said, “Increase in overweight and obesity between teenagers is an emerging public health challenge. If we no longer work, it will affect the country’s health and economy in a long time,” a member of NITI Aayog, Dr. VK Paul said, “In a program on the policy brief release, he warned about the growing health crisis.
In the last two years, the ICMR -headed association focused on three major goals to the Late Fix Hour Food (LFOF) Consortium: educating youth about food and nutrition, protecting them from harmful food marketing, and building healthy schools and home food environment.
Secretary of Health Research Department Dr. Rajiv Bahl and Director General of ICMR said that focusing on adolescent health is not just a health issue, but a national priority. They emphasized the need for strict rules around food marketing, focusing more on food, sugar and salt on high foods in sugar and salt, and more focus on food education.
LFOF recommendations come in India in view of health challenges among teenagers, where 24% of teenagers are low weight and more than 17 million children and teenagers are living with obesity.
“If we no longer work, this number can grow up to 27 million by 2030,” the policy is abbreviated, saying that India suffers from low weight and dual burden of obesity in children.
