“We welcome the recommendations of the World Health Organization” for a crackdown on unhealthy snacks and drinks, “we welcome everything that is done to improve attention to healthy eating and correct lifestyles to protect health also children’s future”. So to time.news Salute Rino Agostiniani, national councilor of the Italian Society of Pediatrics (Sip), regarding the new WHO guidelines to protect children from marketing that promotes unhealthy foods and soft drinks.
Unfortunately, underlines Agostiniani, “during the pandemic, in many cases the quality of food worsened, with a greater intake of sugary drinks, snacks with a high energy density, foods rich in fats and sugars; physical activity decreased and The amount of time spent in front of screens has increased. And it should not be forgotten that children and adolescents are bombarded, even on social networks, with unhealthy food advertisements that lead to unhealthy behaviour”.
This WHO update “is therefore also an excellent opportunity to recall the good rules of proper nutrition, which are those of the Mediterranean diet: a food model rich in foods of plant origin (fruit, whole grains, legumes, seeds) , characterized by the use of olive oil as the main source of added fats and by a moderate consumption of fish, eggs, poultry and dairy products, combined with a reduced consumption of red meat.Principles that Sip has summarized in the Transcultural Food Pyramid, which combines the dictates and health principles of the Mediterranean diet with the flavors of the other populations living in our country”.