“Sporting events, including the Olympics, should focus on promoting healthy diets and lifestyles” – UN experts

GENEVA (19 August 2016) – As the Rio Olympics wind down, two United Nations human rights experts urge the International Olympic Committee to implement protocols to regulate the advertising of unhealthy processed ‘junk’ foods and sugary drinks, especially when targeting children and families.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Hilal Elver, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Dainius Pûras, urged the International Olympic Committee organisers, as well as national Olympic committees, to put a stop to the use of the Olympic Games in commercials and other promotional activities encouraging the consumption of unhealthy food and beverages.
 
“Unhealthy diets are one of the major causes of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and early mortality, as confirmed in a recent global survey launched by the WHO. Consumption of highly processed foods, which often contain high levels of sodium, sugar, trans-fats and saturated fats, are contributing to heart diseases, diabetes, and diet-related cancers. 

Food advertising and promotion have contributed to shifting dietary patterns, fostering unhealthy eating habits and encouraging a dependence on unhealthy foods. Children may regard marketing and advertisements as truthful and unbiased, particularly in relation to products with a potential long-term impact on their health, promoted through aggressive tactics by food and beverage companies.

This is particularly concerning when sporting events which enjoy very high viewership, including by children, promote unhealthy foods. The promotion of such foods by top athletes during and in the run up to sporting events is also problematic, creating the impression that these individuals regularly consume such unhealthy products. Advertising of junk foods through sports sends the wrong message. Sporting events, including the Olympics, should instead focus on promoting healthy diets and lifestyles.

Many countries are seeing rising rates of obesity as a result of increased consumption rates of energy dense yet nutrient poor foods, coupled with more sedentary lifestyles. Unhealthy childhood diets have severe health consequences which are likely to persist in adulthood. Today, 41 million children under the age of 5 are overweight, and if this trend continues, 70 million infants and young children will be overweight or obese by 2025. 

Increasingly, access to adequate nutrition is being recognised as an essential pre-requisite for the right to food and the right to health. With these rights come obligations by States to regulate and hold the food and sporting industries accountable, including by banning advertising leading to consumption of unhealthy food and by encouraging healthy eating.

Food and beverage companies that use sporting events to give out information about products leading to unhealthy habits are directly countering public health efforts to reduce obesity and NCDs, and they must be regulated.

We call upon the organisers of major sporting events to ban the advertising and promotion of unhealthy foods. They must follow scientifically based dietary guidelines when selecting sponsors of their events to minimize the impact of the marketing and advertisement of unhealthy foods at such events, especially when targeting children.”

******

Ms. Hilal Elver (Turkey) was appointed Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food by the Human Rights Council in 2014. She is a Research Professor, and global distinguished fellow at the University of California, Law School Resnick Food Law and Policy Center. She has a law degree, a Ph.D. from the University of Ankara Law School, and SJD from the UCLA Law School. She started her teaching career at the University of Ankara Faculty of Law. Learn more: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Food/Pages/FoodIndex.aspx

The Special Rapporteur is an independent expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to help States, and others, promote and protect the right to the highest attainable standard of health. Mr. Dainius Pûras (Lithuania) is a medical doctor with notable expertise on mental health, child health, and public health policies. He is a Professor and the Head of the Centre for Child psychiatry social paediatrics at Vilnius University, and teaches at the Faculty of Medicine, Institute of International relations and political science and Faculty of Philosophy of Vilnius University, Lithuania. Learn more, visit: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Health/Pages/SRRightHealthIndex.aspx

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

For further information and media enquiries, please contact Frederike Jansonius (+41 22 917 9339 / fjansonius@ohchr.org)

For your news websites and social media: Multimedia content & key messages relating to our news releases are available on UN Human Rights social media channels, listed below. Please tag us using the proper handles:
Twitter: @UNHumanRights
Facebook: unitednationshumanrights
Instagram: unitednationshumanrights
Google+: unitednationshumanrights
Youtube: unohchr