Unhealthy World Food Markets

A study by the Rockefeller Foundation found the following key issues/results in developing countries:

• Unhealthy foods, those high in sugar, fat and salt with little nutritional value, are rapidly becoming more available, affordable, and acceptable for consumers in developing countries. The shift to new patterns of unhealthy eating is contributing to a growing incidence of non-communicable diseases (e.g., diabetes, cardiovascular diseases) historically seen in high-income countries. The spread of unhealthy foods and attendant diet-related risk factors to low-income populations will accelerate in the next decades to affect more than one billion poor people. Lack of access to affordable, healthy food choices, and the new challenges to health and livelihoods from unhealthy foods will compound the existing challenges from under-nutrition and communicable disease that continue to face the developing world. 
• A target population of 1.4 billion low-income people (i.e., those living on $2-$13 per day) in the developing world are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of unhealthy food markets. Rural-to-urban migrants and individuals rising from extreme poverty are disproportionately vulnerable to ill health effects and the resulting livelihood costs of unhealthy food markets.
• The root causes of unhealthy food markets include urbanization and consumer preference for convenience foods, underdeveloped local farm-to-market supply chain infrastructure, the spread of supermarkets and modern retail, and misaligned incentives between government policies and profit-maximizing businesses. 
• Prevailing perspectives, driven mostly by academics and leading development organizations, generally hold that governments must play a stronger role in regulating food markets and correcting misaligned incentives of the private sector. There is little funding dedicated to unhealthy food markets, as most funders and implementing organizations remain dedicated to hunger and under-nutrition and few national governments have intervened to address food markets in systemic ways. 

Consumption patterns of low income populations in lower to middle income countries are increasingly incorporating “junk food” diets (high in fat, sugar, salt, and calories with little nutritional value).

• The growth of packaged foods is 5x higher in Lower to Middle Income Countries (LMIC) compared to developed countries.
• The amount of money spent on soft drinks, ready to eat meals, snacks and ice cream dramatically increased in Brazil (75%), Colombia (50%), Thailand (42%), and South Africa (15%) from 2007 –2012.

Over one billion low income people in the developing world are vulnerable to challenges presented by changing food markets.

• While conclusive data is unavailable, experts agree that poor people with some disposable income are the key population group impacted by unhealthy food markets.
• This population, earning $2-$13 per day, was 1.3 billion in 2011 and is projected to reach 1.4 billion people by 2017.

Low income individuals are disproportionately vulnerable to what is affordable, accessible, and aspirational.

• Low income households, which already spend a high portion of income on food, are steered toward lower priced unhealthful foods. Long shelf-life, ease of storage & transport, and lower cost of inputs make unhealthful foods lower priced.
• Large Food and Beverage companies are increasingly targeting the marketing of unhealthy aspirational products toward low income consumers. 

The problem is growing fastest in countries that historically have had low levels of unhealthful food and soft drink consumption.

• The growth of unhealthy food consumption (110%) and soft drinks (70%) between 2007 and 2012 was highest in India.
• According to a study in the American Journal of Public Health, the projected rise in soft drink consumption over the next 5 years (15.7% in low-and middle-income countries, and 9.5% worldwide) would lead to an additional 2.3 billion adults who are overweight, 1.1 billion who are obese, and 192 million new cases of diabetes. 60% of the burden would fall on low-/middle-income countries.

In developing countries, consumers purchase unhealthful food and soft drinks mainly from small retailers.

• Urban low income people rely on local small informal shops due to convenience (proximity), need to shop multiple times a week (mostly due to lack of refrigeration and storage space), and affordability.
• In a South African study, informal vendors’ competitive pricing for unhealthful foods (chips, pastry) relative to commercial outlets made the food more accessible and affordable to those on lower incomes. 
• Street stalls comprise 39% of food service in Vietnam and studies in South Africa and India showed that poor people switch to more expensive franchised fast food retailers only once their income rises. 

Negative impacts of unhealthy developing world food markets impact populations in both rural and urban areas.

• Time, poverty and affordability hasten overconsumption of unhealthful food in cities. For example, in India, 76% of packaged foods are consumed by the urban population (representing 30% of total population).
• As supermarkets expand in urban areas, they drive down prices, and increase availability and diversity of unhealthy food products to low income populations. 
• Consumption of unhealthy food is a global problem. Low income households are disproportionately vulnerable to the effects of unhealthy food markets.

In another related study conducted by Consumers International Asia Pacific Office on food advertising, children in six countries in the Asia-Pacific region were impacted. 

The main findings are listed below.

The power of television

• Through television, advertisers can reach a whole spectrum of consumers. Children are exposed to an overwhelming amount of advertising as there is little regulation controlling the programme to advertisement ratio. 30 per cent of Malaysian children watch over eight hours of television a day during holidays, and are exposed to over two and half hours of advertisements a day. 
• The majority of children believe television advertisements to be informative and most children respond to them favourably. 73 per cent of Pakistani children claim to love advertisements, as do 68 per cent of Filipino children. Malaysian children are not so fond of advertisements, probably because they watch the most television and get frustrated by the constant interruption caused by commercial breaks.

Food advertisement

• In India, 40-50 per cent of advertisements during children's programming were for food. For Pakistan, the Philippines and Malaysia the percentage of food advertisements varied between 50 and 75 per cent. *In the Philippines, programme to advertisement ratios during children's programming go up to 50 per cent.

Pester power

• More than 50 per cent of parents in all countries surveyed say that their children are an important factor in influencing their purchasing decisions. Indian, Malaysian and Pakistani parents cited "child's demand" as the primary reason for buying a product.

Nutrition knowledge

• 73 per cent of Pakistani children perceive soft drinks to be healthy for frequent consumption. In the Philippines 80 per cent of children and 71 per cent of parents, drink soft drinks at least once a week, as do 71 per cent of South Koreans. About 40 per cent of parents and 63 per cent of children in the Philippines believe fast food to be fit for frequent consumption.

Current legislation

• All six countries have legislative frameworks governing advertising in general and most have guidelines for advertising to children in particular. Only the Philippines and South Korea have laws pertaining to the advertisement of fast food and confectionery.
• South Korea and the Philippines are the only two countries to have specific regulations pertaining to the sponsorship of children's programmes.
• The vast majority of parents from all six countries are in favour of a reduction of the number of advertisements during children's broadcasting.

Consequences of regular consumption of unhealthy foods will translate into higher medical and social costs for a nation. The ways to curb such consumption is to create awareness and use taxation of products/companies involved in these activities to restrict purchases. Once addicted, it is difficult for children or adults to wean-out. Remember, Milo was available free at your school’s Sports Day! And Coke later in life!

References:

Unhealthy developing world food markets, Rockefeller Foundation, May 2013

The junk food generation. A multi-country survey of the influence of television advertisements on children, Consumers International