[이데일리 이순용 기자] As the world’s obese population explodes after the pandemic, major countries are declaring a ‘war on obesity’.
The World Health Organization (WHO) published a study last year that obesity increases the risk of developing certain diseases, including various cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and type 2 diabetes. The researchers point out that obesity is a direct cause of at least 200,000 new cancers. In particular, they warned that the proportion of obesity and overweight in the European population has reached the level of an infectious disease, but experts predict that the situation in Korea is not much different.
Then, what efforts are countries around the world making to prevent obesity, the root cause of all diseases? With the help of Director Lee Gil-sang of 365mc, we look at prominent obesity policies by country.
◇ UK to solve child obesity problem with sugar tax
Since April 2018, the UK has implemented a sugar tax that imposes a tax on beverages containing more than a certain amount of sugar. A sugar tax is a policy to tax sugary beverages to protect children from excessive sugar consumption and to combat childhood obesity.
The UK’s Cambridge University and Oxford University tracked changes in children’s obesity levels after the introduction of the sugar tax, and found that obesity rates decreased at certain ages. In particular, it was investigated that the cases of obesity in girls in the 6th grade of elementary school decreased by 8% compared to the previous year.
In addition to this, the UK is actively implementing obesity policies, and a representative example is the ‘junk food 1+1 promotion ban’ ahead. It was originally scheduled to take effect in October, but was delayed for two years due to inflation.
◇ Over 20% of overweight children and adolescents in China
China is focusing on rising child and adolescent obesity.
Chinese authorities recently conducted a constitutional survey on children and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 17 and found that overweight or obesity accounted for more than 20% of the total. To solve this problem, China recently revised the ‘Child Obesity Prevention and Control Guidelines’, and aims to curb the rising rate of obesity in adolescents by 2030 through various obesity policies.
◇ Obesity designated as one of the top 5 risk factors in Sweden
Sweden operates an obesity prevention program at the national level and strives to improve the health of its citizens.
According to the Swedish Public Health Agency, half of Sweden’s population is overweight and ranks obesity as one of Sweden’s top five risk factors for losing a healthy lifespan. In order to prevent this, the Public Health Agency has prepared and operated various obesity programs at the national level, and along with this, the obesity prevention program ‘HEPA’ is in progress with countries belonging to the European Union (EU).
On the other hand, the Korean government is taking indirect measures rather than direct measures such as imposing a sugar tax. In this regard, in 2018, the ‘Special Act on Children’s Dietary Life Safety Management’, which prohibits the sale of high-calorie beverages at school canteens and vending machines, has been enacted and implemented, and medical insurance benefits are provided to obese people who have a certain level or more of obesity surgery.
Director Lee Gil-sang said, “Since obesity leads to various chronic diseases and increases social costs, countries around the world are stepping up to prevent obesity. We need active individual efforts for this,” he stressed.
2023-07-18 01:04:56
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