19 September | 09:00-10:00 ICT

Food Systems Impacts on Children’s Rights

Organized by:

UNICEF

Background

Food systems play a critical role in shaping the health, development, and well-being of children. From the food children eat to the way it is produced, marketed, and made available, every element impacts their right to health, to adequate nutrition, and to development. Yet, unhealthy food environments, over availability of ultra-processed food and beverages, aggressive marketing, counterproductive economic incentives, and weak regulatory framework and enforcement threaten these rights, contributing to the triple burden of malnutrition: obesity, stunting, micronutrient deficiencies, leading to an epidemy of preventable diseases across all stages of childhood and life course.

Unhealthy food systems directly undermine children’s rights to health, development, education, play, and even survival. Inadequate access to nutritious, affordable food impairs cognitive development, increases vulnerability to disease, and restricts children from reaching their full potential.

In the Asia-Pacific region, rapid urbanization, growing retail markets, and shifting dietary patterns have accelerated these impacts. Millions of children across East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific face the consequences of unhealthy food environments.

Globally, more than 33 million children under 5 years of age (5.6 per cent) and 400 million children and adolescents aged 5-19 years (20 per cent) are considered overweight. In East Asia and the Pacific, 8.2 per cent of children under 5 years of age (10.9 million - 61% increase in the last 25 years) and 22 per cent of children aged 5–19 years are living with overweight or obesity (103 million-between 136% to 312% increase across the region) The EAP regional prevalence estimates for child overweight are higher than the global average for both age groups. [1]

This is caused by food environments becoming unhealthier – for example, over the last 15 years, the number of supermarkets per person in East Asia and the Pacific grew by 52.5%, faster than in any other region in the world[2], replacing traditional markets and leading to changes in purchasing and consumption habits, in particular by increasing the consumption of UPF.

However, the region is also home to promising government-led policies, business initiatives, and growing advocacy, including young people, asking for healthier and more accountable food systems where companies are pushed to improve their products and practices. Businesses across the food system, including agriculture, food production, retail, and marketing, have a responsibility not to constrain the right of children to healthy nutrition, and to contribute to better food environments. And governments and standard setters are key to ensuring accountability and strong frameworks to protect children from unhealthy food and beverage products and marketing.

UNICEF, together with partners from business, academia, governments, and young people in the Asia-Pacific region, will convene this participatory session to explore how food systems can better respect and promote children’s rights.

[1] UNICEF/WHO/World Bank/ JME 2023

[2] Global food retail environments are increasingly dominated by large chains and linked to the rising prevalence of obesity | Nature Food

Key Objectives

For the first time in the region, position the impact of unhealthy food systems in Asia-Pacific, and the adverse impacts of business products and practices, as a priority of the Human Rights and Business agenda.
Explain the strong ties between unhealthy food systems and adverse impacts on children rights to health and development, the role of businesses in shaping these environments (promotion of breastfeeding milk substitute, development of unhealthy consumable food products, aggressive marketing practices, availability through retail and environments like schools and sports infrastructure), and the role of government to improving these systems (through regulation of marketing and food composition, fiscal policies (both incentives for healthy foods vs. Taxation of unhealthy foods, etc.)
Provide a platform for the youth to voice their demands.
Reflect on progress and gaps of regulatory frameworks and business action.
Share existing and upcoming accountability mechanisms, including regulations, but also standards and benchmarks, and initiatives, which can be scaled up across the region