Food Reformulation Will Increase Child Malnutrition
2 August 2024
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In the Media
Julian Jessop quoted in The Mirror
2 August 2024
Energy and Environment
Economic Theory
15 August 2024
IEA research featured The Telegraph
Research by the IEA’s Head of Lifestyle Economics Chris Snowdon regarding regulations on calorie content in food has been referenced in an article in The Telegraph discussing how restrictions on high calorie foods increase child malnutrition at a higher rate than decreasing child obesity.
The article said:
“Researches at the [IEA] said: ‘If the whole population reduces its calorie intake, as the policy intends, at least two children will become underweight for every case of childhood obesity that is prevented.
“The alternative to consuming fewer calories is families having to buy more food to compensate – driving up spending in households that are already hard-pressed because of the cost of living crisis.
“Covering the shortfall would cost the average household up to £400 per year, the report said, with the burden falling hardest on the poorest families, who spend a higher proportion of their incomes on food.
“Advocates of food reformulation cannot have it both ways. Either it would make everyone eat less, in which case there will be a sharp rise in the number of underweight children, or consumers will get around it by eating more, in which case it is a pointless endeavour that would increase the cost of living.”
Read the full piece in The Telegraph.
You can also read a full copy of Calories Out: The Unintended Consequences of Food Reformation.
The article said:
“Researches at the [IEA] said: ‘If the whole population reduces its calorie intake, as the policy intends, at least two children will become underweight for every case of childhood obesity that is prevented.
“The alternative to consuming fewer calories is families having to buy more food to compensate – driving up spending in households that are already hard-pressed because of the cost of living crisis.
“Covering the shortfall would cost the average household up to £400 per year, the report said, with the burden falling hardest on the poorest families, who spend a higher proportion of their incomes on food.
“Advocates of food reformulation cannot have it both ways. Either it would make everyone eat less, in which case there will be a sharp rise in the number of underweight children, or consumers will get around it by eating more, in which case it is a pointless endeavour that would increase the cost of living.”
Read the full piece in The Telegraph.
You can also read a full copy of Calories Out: The Unintended Consequences of Food Reformation.
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