Think tank NAPi urges political parties to list steps against junk food in their manifestos

NEW DELHI: A national think-tank of independent medical experts, paediatricians and nutritionists has written to political parties to include in their manifesto measures to stop the rising consumption of junk food.

The Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest-India (NAPi) has also written to parliamentarians to seek a political solution to the issue.

In their letters, the experts have urged the political parties to promise in their manifestos to bring a legislature to provide warning labels on food products containing high fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) and put reasonable restrictions on the advertising of junk foods to protect people’s health, especially children and youth from developing non-communicable diseases.

Extensive scientific evidence has found associations between increasing consumption of HFSS food products with overweight, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, cancers, depression, and mental health issues, the letter said.

Apart from political parties, they have also written to MPs, including BJP leaders Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State for Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh, former health minister Dr Harshvardhan, and former MoS for environment Prakash Javadekar; Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor, P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh; DMK’s Kanimozhi, Sharad Pawar-led NCP’s Supriya Sule, and TMC’s Derek O’Brien, among others.

Attaching this paper’s January 25 article on the ‘Rising consumption of junk food may lead to obesity and diabetes in Indians’, the NAPi letter urged the politicians that as the 2024 elections draw close, it may be worthwhile to consider this critical public health issue and hoped the issue gets reflected in the Party manifesto.

According to Dr Arun Gupta, Convener, NAPi, “It is the political parties which form governments both at the centre and the states. We want to make them aware of the rising consumption of junk food and resulting obesity and diabetes, and they may like to show their commitment to public health through their manifesto.”