Pune: An ICMR-led consortium has recommended a ban on the advertisement, marketing and sale of junk food items within schools and within a 50-metre radius from the school gates.The recommendations come against the backdrop of rising indicators of chronic disease risk among young Indians. According to the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS, 2016–18), approximately 10% of adolescents were pre-diabetic, 1% were diabetic and approximately 5 % have elevated blood pressure, representing early indicators of a growing chronic disease burden.These recommendations are a part of a 106-page policy document titled ‘Let’s Fix Our Food’, released on Wednesday after nearly three years of multidisciplinary research, stakeholder consultations and policy dialogues.The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) policy brief calls for an immediate notification and operationalisation of pending provisions of the Food Safety and Standards (Safe Food and Balanced Diets for Children in School) Regulations, 2020, that call for marketing restrictions around children.Dr Anil Khamkar, academic head of NICU in Noble Hospitals, told TOI, “HFSS foods or junk foods contain high saturated fat, sugar, and salt, such as fried snacks, chips, bakery items, sugary drinks and many ultra-processed packaged foods. These items should not be consumed on a regular basis, but can be enjoyed occasionally as treats. We should encourage children to eat healthy, fresh, homemade foods with variety.”The consortium has also called for the replacement of voluntary and self-regulatory mechanisms with mandatory ones, but it argued that the responsibility for protecting children from unhealthy food environments should be shifted from consumers to digital platforms, social media intermediaries, content creators, gaming companies and food delivery platforms, who must monitor and restrict HFSS food advertising directed at children and adolescents.It recommends a standard, an evidence-based regulatory definition of HFSS foods to ensure uniform identification, monitoring and enforcement of restrictions.Emphasising the importance of the recommendations, Dr Sajili Mehta, consultant paediatric endocrinologist at Surya Mother & Child Super Speciality Hospital, said, “Many of the health problems we see in children, including excess weight, high blood sugar and abnormal cholesterol, are shaped by the food environment around them.”The proposed restrictions include a ban on child-targeted techniques such as the use of cartoon characters, celebrity endorsements, influencer promotions, advergames, reward-based advertising, branded educational material, immersive digital marketing and algorithm-driven personalised advertising.“Children cannot be expected to make healthy choices when such food items are constantly promoted and easily available. However, regulation of the school environment alone would not solve childhood obesity. It needs to sit alongside physical activity time in schools and affordability of healthier alternatives,” she said.“As a clinician, I would like to flag that policy success should be measured not only by rule notification, but by actual enforcement data and follow-up childhood BMI/metabolic surveillance over the next 3–5 years,” she highlighted.“The ICMR’s recommendations are both timely and necessary because they recognise a simple truth: food is the single largest external influence on our health,” says Dr Sadiq Mulla, consultant endocrinologist at Vencer Hospital.He added, “Hippocrates is often credited for saying, ‘Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food,’ and modern science continues to validate that wisdom. The eating habits established during childhood shape a person’s lifelong risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and several other chronic illnesses.”It said the consortium has further called for stronger monitoring, grievance redressal and enforcement mechanisms, including independent surveillance systems and periodic audits to identify violations across platforms.Clear penalties, the brief stated, would be essential, and greater coordination is needed among all govt and other relevant agencies to establish a harmonised regulatory framework.
