To: Responsible Advertising and Children Programme (www.responsible-advertising.org)

Re: OECD report gives update on obesity rates and national policies to fight the epidemic

On 25 June, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published the Obesity update 2012. The policy brief provides an update of the latest overweight and obesity-related figures in 10 OECD countries, three years on from the publication of OECD’s report “Obesity and the Economics of Prevention: Fit not Fat”.  It also gives an overview of implemented measures aiming at countering the obesity epidemic.

The report refers to advertising in the context of partnerships initiated by governments with the food and beverage industry to fight obesity (e.g. in the UK and Switzerland) but does not make the case for restrictions.

The report finds that obesity rates have been stabilising in several countries but that there is no sign of retrenchment of the epidemic in any country. Overall, levels remain high, especially among children.

Key findings:

·         The prevalence of obesity today varies nearly tenfold among OECD countries, from 4% in Japan and Korea to 30% or more in the US and Mexico;

·         More than  two out of three people will be overweight or obese in some OECD countries by 2020;

·         Obesity rates in Italy (8-9%), Hungary (17-18%), England (22-23%), Korea (3-4%) and Switzerland (7-8%) have stabilised over the past ten years;

·         Obesity is estimated to be responsible for 1 to 3% of the total health expenditure of most OECD countries (5 to 10% in the US);

·         On average, one-in-five children are affected by excess body weight across OECD countries (only in  China, Korea and Turkey are 10% or less of children overweight);

·         Childhood obesity rates have remained stable in France, England, Korea and the US;

·         Obesity is more common among the poor and the less educated. Social disparities are also present in children in England, France and the United States.

The report recommends that governments implement comprehensive prevention strategies as well as increasing dedicated funding. Governments have a role to play through persuasion, education and information campaigns, regulation and fiscal measures against unhealthy foods and beverages. The report focuses in particular on taxation as a potentially cost-effective measure.