To protect Filipinos from heart ailments and childhood obesity, the Philippine Heart Association on Wednesday backed the passage of a bill mandating food warning labels and regulating child-directed food marketing.
At a media briefing at Novotel Manila, Quezon City, Dr. Louella Santos, PHA director, pushed for food warning labeling and marketing restrictions, and batted for the passage of Healthy Food Marketing Environment Bill.
“We need to give Filipinos a fighting chance to protect their heart health, and that of their loved ones’ from this deadly and preventable disease,” she said.
She stressed the need to train children early in life to stay away from high levels of cholesterol, transfat, and too much sugar.
With high cholesterol, one can develop fatty deposits one’s blood vessels making it difficult for enough blood to flow through the arteries, she said.
Samar Rep. Reynolds Michael Tan urged the committees on health and trade to prioritize the bill’s marathon hearings before the end of the 19th Congress.
Along with Santos, Philippine Heart Center executive director Avelino Aventura Jr. and other health advocates, ImagineLaw project manager Mikhail Laurence Millan yesterday launched the Responsible Food Marketing Coalition.
“Children’s health is a shared responsibility. The coalition is committed to creating a healthy food environment that protect the health of Pinoy children,” he said.
