Brief description of the process and methodologies used
Childhood overweight and obesity continue to affect 1 in 3 Portuguese children aged between 5 and 9 years . Excess weight in childhood is not only associated with overweight and obesity in adulthood, but also represents an increased risk for other chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer.
Inadequate eating habits, characterized by consuming more calories than necessary and high intakes of sugar, fat, and salt, are at the root of this health problem and are strongly influenced by an obesogenic environment first described by Boyd Swinburn in 1999. Food advertising is an integral part of this obesity-promoting environment.
Children and consumer stimuli
We now know that children are particularly susceptible to the stimulus to consume certain foods induced by food advertising, especially those who are already overweight, as Halford and his colleagues . According to this study, exposure to food advertising is associated with an increase in energy intake, with this increase being significantly greater in the group of obese children.
Scientific evidence tells us that foods high in calories, sugar, and fat are those that receive the most advertising investment, namely soft drinks and other sugary beverages, chocolates and confectionery, ready-to-eat meals, breakfast cereals, cakes, pastries, and biscuits. And lastly, we also know that early exposure to sweet and salty tastes determines future food preferences for foods with these characteristics .
These are just a few arguments that leave no doubt about the need to regulate food marketing and advertising aimed at children.
In January 2012, the first National Program for the Promotion of Healthy Eating (PNPAS) of the DGS (Directorate-General of Health) already aimed to define specific rules for food advertising directed at younger population groups, considering in its objectives "the need to regulate the advertising of food products aimed at children" .
In 2016, Portuguese cooperation with the WHO in this area increased, with Portugal taking the lead in the WHO European Action Network for Reducing Marketing Pressure to Children. And at the end of 2017, the need to implement measures in this area was reinforced in the Integrated Strategy for the Promotion of Healthy Eating .
Bill 195/XII
The Assembly of the Republic initiated the discussion of this topic on March 2, 2012, through Bill 195/XII, proposed by the Socialist Party. The bill was submitted to a vote in Parliament and approved, with votes in favor from the Socialist Party, the Portuguese Communist Party, the Left Bloc, and the Greens, and abstentions from the Social Democratic Party and the CDS-PP, on March 9, 2012. It was then referred to the Special Committee on "Ethics, Citizenship and Communication," where it remained stagnant for almost three years, until October 22, 2015, when it expired at the end of the legislative term!
With a new legislature and a renewed Parliament, on February 6, 2016, a new vote took place on a new draft law in this area. The draft laws from the PS/PAN/Os Verdes coalition on this matter were approved in Plenary Meeting No. 35. With votes against from MP Isabel Alves Moreira (PS), abstentions from the PSD and CDS-PP, and votes in favor from the PS, BE, PCP, PEV, and PAN, the draft law was sent back to a new specialized committee, this time the Committee on Economy, Innovation and Public Works.
It's February 2016…
Another long marathon of hearings follows, and more hearings. The final global vote only takes place on March 15, 2019! On April 23, 2019, Law 30/2019 , which “Introduces restrictions on advertising aimed at children under 16 years of age for food and beverages that contain high energy value, salt content, sugar, saturated fatty acids and trans fatty acids.”
However, the law can only come into effect after the Directorate-General of Health (DGS) defines the set of food products with excess calories, sugar, salt, and fat. In other words, a nutritional profile that presents the limit values for calories, salt, sugar, saturated fatty acids, and trans for the different categories of food products, which cannot be exceeded for a given food product to continue to be advertised.
WHO – Regional Office for Europe Nutrient Profile Model
This nutritional profile model was based on the World Health Organization's ( WHO) Regional Office for Europe Nutrient Profile Model , and has been adjusted to the national context. Changes were also made to reflect commitments undertaken in Portugal regarding the reformulation of food products, as well as an analysis of the nutritional composition of foods available on the Portuguese market.
Other adaptations also reflect the alignment of the WHO nutritional profile model with the limits imposed by the wording of Law No. 30/2019, of April 23.
The nutritional profile model developed by the DGS (Directorate-General of Health) is well described in the manual “ Nutritional Profile – Restrictions on Food Advertising Aimed at Children ”. The work is therefore diligent for such a sensitive area (just changing a comma or decimal place can change everything) and on August 21st the Order with the “ list of product categories ” to be restricted is published.
A list based on the latest scientific evidence , produced by faculty and students of FCNAUP, which will finally allow the law to come into effect.
Written by
Pedro Graça, Director of the Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences at the University of Porto