Opinion: Justin Trudeau promised to stop junk food companies from marketing to children – but that was nine years ago

Dr. Tom Warshawski and Manuel Arango are co-chairs of the Stop Marketing to Kids Coalition.

On November 12, 2015, new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote a mandate letter to his new Minister of Health, Jane Philpott, outlining what he expected of her.

The second of many priorities he listed was, in part, “to introduce new restrictions on the marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to children, similar to those currently in effect in Quebec.”

It was not the Minister of Health who achieved this objective, nor the three successive federal Ministers of Health. We now urgently need the current Minister for Health, Mark Holland, to get the green light to move forward. This issue was addressed in four mandate letters from the Minister of Health, the 2019 federal budget, and the 2015 and 2021 Liberal election platforms. We believe there is parliamentary support to make this happen. Canadians support it too, with nearly seven in ten favoring restrictions on the marketing of unhealthy foods to children, according to a new poll from Pollara Strategic Insights (on behalf of the Heart and Stroke Foundation). ‘stroke).

If long-promised regulations to limit the marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to children in Canada are not introduced before the end of June (when the House rests for the summer), there is a very real risk that they won’t be adopted until next month. federal elections, which will take place next year (if not before). This seemingly high priority element of the mandate letter could remain unfinished for many years to come.

We have already taken this pre-election path. In 2019, federal legislation to restrict the marketing of food and beverages awaited Senate approval. The measure had already been delayed by food and beverage industry lobbyists when the federal election was called that year, allowing the industry to defeat the legislation. Since then, we have been waiting for its rebirth, and the industry is still trying to delay it.

Meanwhile, children who were 6 or 7 when the pledge was made in 2015 endured nine years of relentless exposure to junk food marketing during their most influential years. For many, this advertising will have already played an important role in the adoption of poor eating habits throughout life and the negative health consequences that result from them.

Others, who were teenagers in the summer of 2015, are now in their 20s and some may already have children of their own. Without swift government action, parents of young children will continue to face the challenge of seeing their children overwhelmed by the same unhealthy food and drink marketing as them.

The concept is simple: adopt federal rules that limit the marketing of junk food to impressionable young people. There are many traditional facets of this marketing, from television commercials to attractive outdoor billboards to in-store and restaurant displays. But today, social media ads are proliferating under the guise of funny videos, games and contests, often using adorable, fun and seemingly harmless cartoon characters and other tactics to target children. They all have one real goal: to get our children addicted to foods high in sugar, salt, and saturated fat, or all three.

This marketing exists because it works: it pushes our children to pester their parents to buy unhealthy products that seem so appealing to them, or even to spend what little money they have. Ultra-processed foods, which make up the majority of products marketed to children, represent 60 percent of the diets of Canadian children aged 9 to 13. According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, “diets high in ultra-processed foods, including sugary drinks, are linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, dental caries and mortality later in life. In 2019 alone, dietary risk factors contributed to 36,000 deaths in Canada.

The Prime Minister has made notable progress on other elements of his healthy eating strategy, including updating Canada’s Food Guide, front-of-pack nutrition labeling, banning trans fats in all food sold in Canada and the new $1 billion budget announced. national school nutrition program. But the centerpiece of the plan – restrictions on marketing to children – remains incomplete. We ask Mr. Trudeau not to go back on his beautiful promise nine years ago and to protect children so that they do not become the target of manipulative junk food marketing.

The federal government must stay the course and finally keep its promise to prevent junk food marketers from targeting children and must publish proposed regulations before the end of June. They must not let the influential junk food lobby stop them once again from doing the right thing for our children.

We have waited too long and we cannot afford to wait for another generation to grow up without such action.