"Recognizing obesity as a disease", Arcom partners World Obesity Days

Published on 03 March 2022

  • Public health
  • Television
  • Radio
  • Platform
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Obesity affects more than 8 million people in France. Arcom, a partner of World Obesity Day, is fulfilling its role of informing and raising awareness in the audiovisual industry about this major public health problem.

The French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication, Arcom, has been one of the most committed partners of the World Day Against Obesity from March 3 to 5, 2022, every year since 2010. The aim is to encourage healthy behavior, broadcast news programmes promoting a healthy lifestyle, inform the general public and propose solutions.

Key figures

  • 800 million people worldwide are affected by obesity.
  • Obesity affects 8.5 million people in France.
  • The medical consequences of obesity will cost over 1,000 billion dollars by 2025.
  • People affected by obesity are twice as likely to be hospitalized if the covid-19 test is positive.
  • Childhood obesity is expected to increase by 60% over the next decade, reaching 250 million children by 2030.

Arcom mobilizes the audiovisual media

Arcom mobilizes the audiovisual media to inform the general public about subjects of general interest, such as health alerts issued by the Ministry of Health (flu, heatwaves, etc.), food, the fight against smoking, etc. In particular, the Authority is careful to ensure that television and radio stations do not encourage behavior that is dangerous to health.

Every year since 2010, Arcom has partnered the "World Obesity Days". The aim is to inform the general public, not just those affected, and to propose solutions.

The role of the audiovisual media

The audiovisual media play an essential role in raising awareness among the general public, especially youngsters, of the importance of a balanced diet, regular physical activity and restful sleep.

Food charter commitments

The audiovisual media industry is governed by a co-regulation scheme based on a charter of commitments to promote a healthy lifestyle, under the supervision of Arcom, which ensures that all signatories respect their commitments.

The Food Charter initiative is based on the involvement and empowerment of all the players concerned, foremost among them TV channels, advertising agencies, producers and advertisers.

The signatories have agreed to respect the charter's commitments, which include the following:

  • Encouraging advertisers to include nutritional benchmarks, in particular the Nutri-Score, in their messages, and to take them into account when sponsoring programs;
  • Strengthening obligations for healthy and sustainable food programs, in terms of both volume and quality of exposure;
  • extending the scope of the charter to include radio broadcasters, online advertising operators and digital players;
  • the development of a scheme toassess the relevance and effectiveness of the commitments made.

FoodCharter 2020-24

Channels/radio stations/online advertising operators recommit to promoting #healthy #food and #behavior in programs/adverts. Next step: evaluate compliance with commitments? https://t.co/ebHclLfhr4 pic.twitter.com/4oXgSVUjII

- Arcom (@Arcom_fr) January 30, 2020
Browse the Arcom food charter

The CNAO campaign

"To really tackle the problem of obesity, we must first recognize it as a disease," explains Anne-Sophie Joly, President of the Collectif National des Associations d'Obèses (CNAO), in charge of the campaign in France.

As part of the worldwide campaign, Arcom is inviting the media to show the visuals, logo and video produced by the CNAO, and forwarded to them by Arcom.

About CNAO

The CNAO is accredited by the French Ministry of Health, EASO (European Association for the Study of Obesity) and CAF America (quality label - international certification).

It serves :

  • a link between institutions, regional associations and patients
  • spokesperson for people suffering from weight problems (overweight and obesity).

Through its various actions, the CNAO aims to :

  • gain recognition for obesity as a chronic disease
  • defend the interests of the general public and of people suffering from obesity
  • improve care for people suffering from obesity
  • propose preventive measures for the general public
  • to pass on the right information to those affected by overweight and obesity.