Canada needs sugary drink tax, study led by 管家婆免费开奖大全 researchers urges
Published: December 15, 2017
管家婆免费开奖大全 nutritional scientists are leading a study with national experts calling on the Canadian government to outlaw junk food marketing to children, impose stricter limits on unhealthy nutrients added to foods, and impose a 鈥渟ugary drink tax.鈥
Professor Mary L鈥橝bb茅, chair of the department of nutritional sciences in the Faculty of Medicine, and Banting postdoctoral fellow Lana Vanderlee , called the Food-EPI Study, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. In it, they examined Canada鈥檚 progress on obesity-curbing measures compared with other countries.
They found that Canada performed well on some important measures, such as political leadership to support healthy eating, and transparency in developing food policies, which if secretive can lead to undue influence by the food industry.
Health Canada has recently announced new policies for some important areas where Canada trails its peers. But in many areas, the authors say Canada still has work to do 鈥 for example, setting policies in retail stores and restaurants to help provide and market healthier foods, where there are almost no policies or programs at any level of government.
Despite the good news, there were notable disparities between provinces, with Quebec having the most progressive food policies, including a restriction of junk-food marketing to children, and some other provinces failing to do as much to protect residents. Even the foods and drinks that can be sold in schools varied across provinces and territories. Overall, Ontario fared roughly in the middle of the pack.
鈥淓ven if we鈥檙e meeting best practices in some areas, we shouldn鈥檛 get complacent,鈥 says Vanderlee (left). 鈥淐anada doesn鈥檛 have taxes on unhealthy foods, such as sugary drinks, even though the evidence from other countries suggests these work. If we don鈥檛 move on this front, we鈥檙e going to fall behind.鈥
Mexico, which has some of the world鈥檚 highest child obesity rates, is seeing success with a soda tax, and other countries are following suit, she says. The U.K. is on the verge of implementing such a tax, and South Africa just announced one.
鈥淢ost of the evidence indicates that sugary drinks are the biggest contributors to sugar consumption and play an important role in weight gain,鈥 she says. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 get as full when you鈥檙e drinking your calories and it鈥檚 easy to consume a lot of sugar in a short time.鈥
The federal government imposes no restrictions on marketing junk food to children, L鈥橝bb茅 says, although they have announced impending regulations as part of the Healthy Eating Strategy.
鈥淲e know that marketing to kids changes what they want to eat and what they鈥檙e asking their parents to buy. And we know that it is the unhealthy foods that are the most heavily marketed to children,鈥 she says.
Asking for voluntary industry co-operation to make foods healthier, with less sodium, hasn鈥檛 worked well in the past for all foods, she says. The Canadian government hasn鈥檛 made any voluntary or mandatory restrictions on the amount of sugar or saturated fat in foods either, nor have officials set any targets for levels in restaurant foods.
They found that Canada performed well on some important measures, such as political leadership to support healthy eating, and transparency in developing food policies, which if secretive can lead to undue influence by the food industry.
Health Canada has recently announced new policies for some important areas where Canada trails its peers. But in many areas, the authors say Canada still has work to do 鈥 for example, setting policies in retail stores and restaurants to help provide and market healthier foods, where there are almost no policies or programs at any level of government.
Despite the good news, there were notable disparities between provinces, with Quebec having the most progressive food policies, including a restriction of junk-food marketing to children, and some other provinces failing to do as much to protect residents. Even the foods and drinks that can be sold in schools varied across provinces and territories. Overall, Ontario fared roughly in the middle of the pack.
鈥淓ven if we鈥檙e meeting best practices in some areas, we shouldn鈥檛 get complacent,鈥 says Vanderlee (left). 鈥淐anada doesn鈥檛 have taxes on unhealthy foods, such as sugary drinks, even though the evidence from other countries suggests these work. If we don鈥檛 move on this front, we鈥檙e going to fall behind.鈥Mexico, which has some of the world鈥檚 highest child obesity rates, is seeing success with a soda tax, and other countries are following suit, she says. The U.K. is on the verge of implementing such a tax, and South Africa just announced one.
鈥淢ost of the evidence indicates that sugary drinks are the biggest contributors to sugar consumption and play an important role in weight gain,鈥 she says. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 get as full when you鈥檙e drinking your calories and it鈥檚 easy to consume a lot of sugar in a short time.鈥
The federal government imposes no restrictions on marketing junk food to children, L鈥橝bb茅 says, although they have announced impending regulations as part of the Healthy Eating Strategy.
鈥淲e know that marketing to kids changes what they want to eat and what they鈥檙e asking their parents to buy. And we know that it is the unhealthy foods that are the most heavily marketed to children,鈥 she says.
Asking for voluntary industry co-operation to make foods healthier, with less sodium, hasn鈥檛 worked well in the past for all foods, she says. The Canadian government hasn鈥檛 made any voluntary or mandatory restrictions on the amount of sugar or saturated fat in foods either, nor have officials set any targets for levels in restaurant foods.
鈥淭he evidence is mounting that these kinds of government interventions work,鈥 says Vanderlee. 鈥淏ut we know no individual policy is a silver bullet. That鈥檚 why Canada needs a comprehensive and co-ordinated strategy if we want to move the dial on obesity and diet-related diseases like diabetes, heart disease and cancer and keep up with international leaders.鈥
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