City aims to curb junk food marketing
By Lauren McIvor
City officials have approved an Ottawa Public Health plan to curb the marketing of unhealthy food and beverages on municipal property, a policy aimed at encouraging better nutritional choices among youth.
The plan, approved by the Ottawa Board of Health on Feb. 5, includes two focus areas: community action and supporting federal measures that promote healthy eating.
Before actually restricting the marketing of such foods in community centres, libraries and other municipal spaces, OPH first wants to win over parents. So the initial step proposed by the agency is an awareness campaign to bring attention to the issue.
The agency plans to engage parents online to further the discussion, and has said that it will emphasize outreach so parents are aware of the issue and can take action.
“We really want to build support for when we do come forward with policies that will help restrict marketing to children,” said Emily Spencer, a registered dietitian at OPH. “So we’re trying to build support through public awareness.”
Another next step, Spencer said, “will be to continue meeting with our stakeholders and engage the community in action to influence policy.”
The plan is the result of a 2017 community consultation that was completed by OPH staff to survey the public on the marketing unhealthy food and drinks to children and youth at the municipal level.
The consultation lasted seven months, and more than 1,500 people participated through various survey methods.
Of those reached through the survey, 80 per cent said that marketing of unhealthy food products can contribute to health problems at a young age, or later in adulthood.
Spencer said advertising at bus stops, in recreation centres and on vending machines are some examples of the marketing that is commonly seen in a municipal setting.
The Ottawa Public Library helped to facilitate discussions during the consultation at some of its locations, said deputy CEO Monique Désormeaux.
Désormeaux wrote that OPL doesn’t typically market unhealthy food and beverages to children. Instead, its à la carte food literacy program focuses on promoting healthy eating habits.
“There’s a lot of evidence and research that show that marketing unhealthy foods and drinks to children and youth can normalize unhealthy behavior,” said Spencer. “And it also encourages greater consumption of these unhealthy products, which can contribute to the rising rates of chronic diseases that we’re seeing today.”
According to Statistics Canada, 30 per cent of children aged five to 17 in Canada are overweight or obese.
OPH is working to support the federal government’s efforts to move forward with national policies, and Spencer said OPH wants to make changes at the municipal level to reinforce the momentum towards change.
Bill S-228 is a federal proposal to amend the Food and Drugs Act, prohibiting certain food and beverage marketing directed at children.
“We write letters of support to the federal government in their work and we’re going to continue to support the work that they’re doing with Bill S-228 and with other initiatives to reduce marketing to kids,” said Spencer.
The federal bill was presented in September 2016. It has now gone through its second reading in the House of Commons.
“The ultimate goal at the end of the day would be to not have marketing of unhealthy food and beverages to children and youth on municipal settings,” Spencer said. “That’s going to take many years, of course. There’s many steps to be taken to get to that final goal, but really we want to have some concrete actions we can take to slowly start reducing that over time — to help shift social norms a little bit, to bring people on board with these ideas.”