In the supermarket the six-year old clutched her mother’s skirt and said “Mommy, the chips,” as she pointed to the boxes of potato chips on the shelves. “Not today, darling. We have no money.”
“Aw, mommy.”
Consumers International (CI) has chosen for its theme on World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) 2008 as ‘Junk Food Generation.’ CI claims that there is evidence of a global problem, but the problem, if it was developing in Guyana, seems to have lost ground. Poverty has spread to the middle classes and money set aside for food has to be spent on healthy food.
It is a growing practice for mothers to rise early in the morning to cook the family lunch. School children do not miss out on lunch as their meals are packed in the lunch kit. Children have learnt to make healthy choices. Chicken, hamburgers and channa are their favourite.
CI blames the multinational food companies for the huge amount of advertising and promotion of unhealthy food. Staggering sums of money are spent on advertising food, soft drinks, sweets and confectionery.
Guyana is not in such a happy position where soft drinks and sweets are concerned. One may find soft drinks taking the place of water. However, the local products, produced from local fruit, are gaining a place in the supermarkets.
CI is asking the World Health Organisation to develop an effective international code on the marketing of unhealthy food to children and for it to be adopted and implemented by governments.
CI claims that obesity is linked to unhealthy food.
Food high in fat, sugar and salt, combined with less physical activity, has led to diet related diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer. In the WCRD handout it states: “These preventable diseases are a massive cost to human life, people’s livelihoods and health services. Children who are obese are much more likely to be obese adults and to suffer long-term health problems. At least 22 million children around the world under five years are already overweight and we must act to prevent the spread of the childhood obesity epidemic.” The document goes on to say, “A report from the WHO Marketing of Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages to Children published in 2006 explains that there is evidence that the advertising of food high in fat, sugar and salt has a direct effect on children wanting and eating those unhealthy foods that lead to obesity. Studies also show that children are much more likely to want to eat food that comes in branded packaging than food with no branding – even if it is the same product.”
CI says that there is evidence of a global problem: “In some countries childhood obesity has already reached crisis point; in others it is a time bomb waiting to explode. Obesity can be the result of malnutrition and the problem of eating too much and too little can exist side by side. Evidence also shows that children in the poorest countries may be even more vulnerable to the effects of marketing as they are less familiar with advertising but more likely to engage with promotions which link certain foods with a modern lifestyle.”
Guyana may pass the test at this time where food is concerned. Children are not dying from heart attacks, but exposure to advertisements may bring a change.
Sweets are still a favourite and these are bad for the teeth. Parents should know that a visit to a dentist to have a cavity filled may result in a bill for $26,000 if root cavity cleaning is involved. This treatment is not without flaws. If the tooth needs a crown, the bill may be $100,000.
