ATNF partners with ShareAction to tackle childhood obesity in the UK

ShareAction, a UK-based charity that campaigns to transform the investment system and unlock its potential to be a force for good, has just announced a new campaign called ‘Healthy Markets’. The campaign aims to tackle rising childhood obesity levels in the UK by harnessing the power of the investment system to create and support healthier options for UK consumers.

The campaign will bring investors together to ask major food and drinks companies operating in the UK market to produce healthier, affordable products, limit marketing of sugary products to children, and provide clear and accurate food labelling.

Currently, one in five children starting primary school in the UK is overweight or obese and this figure rises to one in three by the time they reach secondary school.

This has huge economic and social costs to society, including an estimated £6.1bn cost to the NHS per year, not to mention the many impacts on children themselves.

ShareAction, in partnership with the Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI), will benchmark major retailers and manufacturers in the UK market to analyse their current performance in this space and inform direct engagement with firms. The campaign will then develop a set of individualised company demands for action that contributes to reducing levels of childhood obesity in the UK.

Visit ShareAction.org for more information on this exciting new venture.