Partnerships between health organizations and the food industry risk derailing public health nutrition.

摘要

Highly processed, nutritionally deprived and calorie-rich foods tend to be the profit drivers most heavily marketed by their manufacturers. Their promotion and consumption contradict government guidance on healthy food choices and the aims of health organizations fighting an epidemic of childhood and adult obesity. Why then do many health organizations allow their messages and reputations to be tarnished by partnerships with food companies (see Appendix 1, available at www.cmaj.ca /cgi/content/fun/cmaj. 110085/DCI)?The world has changed since the first Ronald McDonald House partnered with The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in 1974. We have become acutely aware of the adverse health consequences of processed foods. Obesity rates are skyrocketing, adult-onset diabetes is no longer limited to adults, and scholarly articles debate how many deaths and how many billions of dollars are lost annually to obesity.