Obesity on the move – Changing perceptions about a weighty issue

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Self-regulation As an issue arises, self-regulation is often the preferred approach for industry and political stakeholders. Industry is not eager for legislative restraints and governments see such a solution as ‘next best’ solution: legislation means resistance, administrative burden, and higher costs. The current status of overweight and obesity in the Netherlands suggests that self-regulation might not be as effective as expected. It should be noted that self-regulation is not only a solution in the best interest of the industry, it could also prove to be satisfactory for NGOs and political stakeholders. In the case of complex issues such as overweight and obesity some aspects of the issue might be solvable by self-regulation, but usually not all. Legislation As with the tobacco issue, after a period of attempted self-regulation follows legislation. In the Netherlands, the overall scenario seems to be moving from selfregulation towards legislation, in the footsteps of the tobacco issue. Of course on sub levels of the problem various scenarios are probable. As mentioned in some cases, the government will develop legislation (advertising to children). Self-regulation is probable when looking at the eating out sector regarding caloric information of menus. Boycotts as a scenario is not very realistic at this time, although the Dutch consumer association has gone its own way by not signing the National Obesity Covenant. Status quo as the fourth scenario will be the case in various terrains such as healthcare insurance. It is not probable that government will allocate more funds for the private healthcare insurers regarding prevention. Taking the conclusions and scenarios into consideration, the following implications for key stakeholders can be defined. - Food industry The food industry will face legislation regarding marketing, advertising and claims. They will become more pro-active regarding aspects such as product modification and labelling to prevent further legislation. - Retail Supermarkets will face legislation regarding advertising and claims on food products (house brands). It is expected that a system (such as the traffic light system) will be introduced that will give more information on the nutritional value of food products within product categories (such as snacks and dairy).


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