Chile is one of the countries with the highest rates of overweight and obesity. Data from 2023 showed that half of all children under the age of 14 were overweight or obese.
In an attempt to reverse the trend, a package of laws was introduced starting in 2016 with the aim of limiting the consumption of unhealthy foods.
The package consists of three parts, all targeting products high in sugar, salt, saturated fat and calories. They include black warning labels, restrictions on the sale of such products in schools and a ban on marketing aimed at children.
For example, offers that include a toy with a fast-food meal are not allowed. Packaging may also not feature characters that are clearly aimed at children.
Sweden can learn
Now researchers have analyzed data from more than 300,000 schoolchildren aged four to six in the country. They have compared the height and weight of children in the same age groups in the years before the law was introduced and in the years after.
The results, published in the journal Lancet, show that girls had a 2.9 percent lower risk of being overweight or obese and boys had a 2.4 percent lower risk after the laws were introduced.
"It seems that this community effort has actually had an effect; that's interesting," says Liselotte Schäfer Elinder, professor of public health science at Karolinska Institutet.
Sweden is far ahead when it comes to schools, with healthy and free school meals. But there are things to learn.
"We have a significantly lower proportion of children with overweight and obesity than Chile, but it is a rising trend. It is irresponsible for politicians not to do more to slow down the development of children," she says, pointing to the increased risk of chronic diseases that follow.
More laws have been introduced
After 2016, further restrictions came into force in Chile, which include limits on fat, salt and sugar content, but any effects of this have not yet been followed up.
The researchers write that although the reduced risk of obesity may seem modest, it is likely that the effect could be greater once these changes have also had an impact. They also highlight several limitations of the study, such as the fact that it is not possible to know what the children's weight would have been without the restrictions.
The prevalence of overweight and obesity in Sweden has increased continuously among the adult population since the 1980s.
Today, 51 percent are either overweight or obese. The fastest increase has occurred among younger adults and the prevalence is increasing in all social groups.
Approximately 23 percent of children aged 6–9 and more than one in five young people aged 16–19 are overweight or obese.
At the age of four, obesity is three to four times more common in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas and the incidence is also higher in sparsely populated areas.
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