WHO’s Anti-Obesity Plan Wins Backing From U.S., Food Industry

The World Health Organization’s plan to combat obesity won backing from the U.S. government and the American and European food industries, after objections by sugar producers.

The World Health Organization’s plan to combat obesity won backing from the U.S. government and the American and European food industries, after objections by sugar producers. Health officials from 192 member states, meeting this week in Geneva, will be asked to approve the Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, which recommends that consumers limit intake of fat, salt and sugar and exercise more. “There is no time to lose,” Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, said yesterday in Geneva on behalf of Tommy Thompson, the U.S. Secretary for Health and Human Services. “Our waistlines are expanding while our health is deteriorating.” The WHO estimates more than 1 billion adults worldwide are overweight, with at least 300 million obese, putting them at risk of diseases including diabetes, cancer, heart attacks and strokes. Diabetes affects at least 177 million people, and the number is likely to double by 2030, the United Nations agency said. `Bad Diets’ The Grocery Manufacturers of America and the Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries of the European Union on Monday issued a statement urging the WHO assembly to adopt the strategy. “We do not believe that there are bad products, only bad diets,” Francois Perroud, a spokesman for Nestle SA, the world’s largest foodmaker, said in a telephone interview from Vevey, Switzerland. “It’s a question of responsible consumption.” WHO officials met last year with industry groups and executives from Nestle, Cadbury Schweppes Plc, Coca-Cola Co., Compass Group Plc, Kellogg Co., McDonald’s Corp., PepsiCo Inc., Unilever NV and Yum! Brands Inc. “It’s a sea change from two years ago, when they were very reluctant to come to grips with the problem at all,” WHO spokesman David Porter said. The sugar industry remains opposed to WHO’s approach. The Sugar Association, representing 17 U.S. sugar companies, had suggested that Congress stop funding the WHO after it and another UN agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, concluded in a report that added sugars shouldn’t account for more than 10 percent of calories. “It wasn’t based on a preponderance of science,” Andrew Briscoe, president of the Sugar Association in Washington, said by telephone. The WHO offered “no evidence that sugar causes obesity,” said Richard Cottrell, the head of the World Sugar Research Organization in Reading, England. Americans started gaining weight more than a century ago, Cottrell said. “It’s the end of a tide coming in for a long time,” he said. `Not Helpful’ “They’re a one-club golf set,” Andrew Prentice, head of international nutrition for the U.K. Medical Research Council, said by phone from Gambia. “Unless they fight us aggressively, their market will shrink.” Tesco Plc, Britain’s largest retailer, said it’s staying out of the dispute. “I don’t think it’s helpful to apportion blame for what needs to be a joint effort,” spokesman Jonathan Church said. “Everyone has a role to play.” (Source: Bloomberg Health News, May 2004)