NUTRITION

Healthy eating. On April 7, in commemoration of World Health Day, the WHO called on governments, control agencies and companies to accelerate the adoption of measures to preserve and protect health and mitigate the climate crisis. It made special mention of the consumption of products high in critical nutrients, accusing them of generating a “wave of obesity” and questioned the proliferation of plastic pollution on a planetary scale. He urged countries, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, to promote the guidelines included in the organization’s manifesto to achieve a healthy and environmentally friendly recovery.

In issuing its call to action, WHO noted with concern that pollution and plastics have made their way into the food chain. In turn, it argued that systems that produce highly processed and unhealthy foods and beverages are driving a wave of obesity, causing the rise in cancers and heart disease, and generating up to one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. In the same vein, he stressed that this health and social crisis is compromising people’s ability to take control of their health and their lives.

In view of this, the organization urged the international community to promote measures in line with its 2020 Manifesto. It states that, in order to ensure a healthy and environmentally friendly recovery of COVID-19, healthy and sustainable food systems must be promoted. Likewise, to improve the quality of life of the population, it is important to build healthy and livable cities, and to stop using taxpayers’ money to finance polluting sectors.

Next steps

Building on the WHO’s call for action, Latin American governments may move forward in adopting food and health measures in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.