Fighting obesity: Clarification from World Health Organization

doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7456.53-c

BMJ 2004;329:53-54 (3 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7456.53-c

Letter

Fighting obesity

Clarification from World Health Organization

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Jain's editorial calling for increased researchinto effective interventions against obesity contained someinaccuracies about the World Health Organization's role in thisimportant global health issue.¹

The WHO global strategy on diet, physical activity, and healthnever "implicated" the marketing of junk foods, called for animmediate ban on the advertising of unhealthy foods to children,or was stalled. A first draft was presented to the executiveboard in January 2004 and revised in April after taking intoaccount member states' comments. The second draft was endorsedwithout further change by all member states at the World HealthAssembly in May, as was originally scheduled.

Although the strategy never called for bans, the first and finaldrafts both noted that food advertising should not exploit children'sinexperience or credulity and emphasised the overall importanceof the information environment. The strategy specifically callsfor countries to discourage messages that . . . [Full text of this article]

Catherine Le Gales-Camus, assistant-director general, noncommunicable diseases and mental health

legalescamusc@who.int

Amalia Waxman, project manager, global strategy on diet, physical activity and health

World Health Organization, Geneva 27, Switzerland