A collective of 43 experts are calling for a framework for “profit-focused food and drink multinationals”, and for action against obesity, undernutrition and climate change.
Obesity and undernutrition could worsen with climate change, according to a new report from the Lancet. “For the past 20 years, obesity, undernutrition and climate change have been considered separately and the slow pace of policy responses is unacceptable,” explain the experts. After three years of investigation, they raise a cry of alarm: “these three phenomena interact: the food system is not only responsible for the pandemics of obesity and undernutrition, but also generates 25 to 30% of greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse”.
“You have to be aware of these connections”
This committed document is the extension of a first study devoted to the link between food and environmental protection, published on January 17 in the same journal. We could read there that it was necessary, to stay in good health and preserve the planet, to reduce by half the world consumption of red meat and industrial sugar while doubling that of fruits, vegetables as well as nuts.
“Undernourishment and obesity are likely to be significantly aggravated by climate change,” say the scientists. Caused by global warming, droughts can for example not only deprive certain populations of food but also increase the price of fruit and vegetables, which would encourage the consumption of industrial foods. “You have to be aware of these connections,” calls Professor Corinna Hawkes, one of the authors of the report.
Framing “Food and Beverage Multinationals
To cope, the collective invites to supervise the “multinationals of food and drink focused on profits”, as is the case with the multinationals of tobacco. These are, still for these 43 experts from 14 countries, the main responsible for the excesses of the global food system.
An adequate global response would combine the implementation of public health policies (promotion of physical activity, recommendations in favor of healthy diets, etc.) and budgetary and fiscal policies (taxes to reduce the consumption of red meat, financing of sustainable production methods, etc.).
In 2017, 815 million people went to bed hungry, an increase from the 777 million people recorded in 2015. At the same time, the number of cases of obesity has almost tripled since 1975. In 2016, more than 1 .9 billion adults were overweight. Of this total, more than 650 million were obese. Malnutrition and obesity are the vector of multiple pathologies, some of which are fatal.
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