Challenges and Opportunities for Member States to Implement Resolution WHA63.14 to Restrict the Marketing of Unhealthy Food and Non-alcoholic Beverage Products to Children to Decrease Global Obesity and Non-Communicable Disease Risks by 2025

Abstract

The widespread marketing of food and beverage products high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) es is a significant driver of obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This PhD dissertation examined the factors related to Member States' capacity and actions to fully implement the 2010 World Health Assembly's Resolution WHA63.14 to restrict the marketing of HFSS food and non-alcoholic beverage products to children up to 18 years by 2025. The first study describes the capacity-building needs of Ministries of Health (MoH) to implement the Resolution WHA63.14. The research used a 28-item web-based survey administered to representatives of MoH from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) region (n= 35). A government capacity-building and integrated marketing communications (IMC) frameworks guided this research. The second study examined the government policies to restrict the marketing of HFSS food and beverage products in a purposive sample of countries in the PAHO region (n=14). The WHO policy and IMC frameworks were used to develop a responsible policy index (RESPI). A web-based platform was developed that uses data visualization tools to depict the results. The third study explored the dimensions of power in the Mexican social networks of stakeholders that influenced the policy-making process that enabled the government to enact front-of-pack (FOP) warning labels on HFSS food and beverage products marketed to children and adults in 2020. The study followed a case study approach, using semi-structured interviews with stakeholders, and guided by the Gaventa's power cube framework. Social Network Analyses were conducted using the UCINET software (version 6) that measured centrality, factions and quadratic assignment procedures (QAP). These PhD studies applied several theoretically grounded conceptual frameworks related to nutrition governance that allowed me to draw conclusions from empirical and published evidence to develop and implement comprehensive policies to restrict the marketing of HFSS food and beverage products to children. Results may inform government agencies, civil society organizations, academic researchers, private foundations and industry actors about the areas needed for policy improvement and promising or best practices that should be adopted to implement Resolution WHA63.14 to reduce children's future risks of obesity and diet-related NCDs by 2025.