This edited book is the first to reflect on childhood obesity as a global legal challenge. It calls for a thorough commitment to human rights in the face of an ascendant global agri-food industry. The book makes an original contribution to the discussion on obesity as it considers both international economic law and human rights law perspectives on the issue whilst also examining the relationship between these two bodies of international law. After highlighting the importance of a human rights-based approach to obesity prevention, this book discusses the relevance of international economic law to the promotion of healthier food environments. It then examines the potential of international human rights law for more effective regulation of the food industry, arguing for better coordination between UN actors and more systematic reliance on human rights tools, including: the best interests of the child principle, human rights due diligence processes, and the imposition of extraterritorial obligations. The concluding chapter reflects on recurring themes and the added value of a WHO Framework Convention on Obesity Prevention. This book will be of interest to public health scholars, particularly those working on obesity and non-communicable diseases, and those with a broader interest in children's rights, human rights, international trade, investment, consumer or food law and policy. It will also be relevant to policy actors working to improve nutrition and public health globally.

Since the 1980s, there has been an alarming increase in the prevalence of obesity in virtually every country in the world. As obesity is known to lead to both chronic and severe medical problems, it imposes a cost not only on affected individuals and their families, but also on society as a whole. In Europe, the Obesity Prevention White Paper of May 2007 - followed by the adoption of an EU School Fruit Scheme, the acknowledgement that food advertising to children should be limited, and proposed legislation to make nutrition labeling compulsory - has firmly placed obesity on the EU agenda by laying down a multi-sectoral strategy and a basis for future action. In accordance with this growing sense of urgency, this is the first book to offer an in-depth legal analysis of obesity prevention, with particular reference to Europe. It describes what the EU has done and could do to support Member States in fighting the obesity epidemic, and clearly shows the way to locating advocacy strategies within the framework of EU law. The thorough analysis includes a discussion of the following issues: the need to address nutrition and physical activity as important health determinants; the emphasis traditionally placed at EU level on food safety rather than food quality; the need for the development of databases on nutrition and physical activity, comparable common indicators and risk assessment mechanisms; mainstreaming public health into all EU policies; the scope of EU powers in the case law of the Court of Justice; the role of information in the EU's obesity prevention strategy; the Commission's proposed Mandatory Nutrition Declaration; and, the Food Claims Regulation. It also includes: the regulation of food marketing to children, and in particular the role of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and industry self-regulation; food reformulation; the use of economic instruments in the EU's obesity prevention strategy, with an emphasis on the Common Agricultural Policy and the EU's taxation policy; and EU action in the fields of sport, occupational health and safety, and transport policy. The author convincingly shows that conflicts of interest inherent in market forces demand a strong EU intervention, preferably through legislation than self-regulation. She also demonstrates the urgent need to reach an agreement, on the basis of reliable data, about what is effective in practice to improve lifestyles. The study acknowledges that the law is not a panacea, but nonetheless has an influential role to play in making the healthy choice an easier choice, and must move decisively towards ensuring that the societal costs associated with obesity are sustainable, and that the ultimate goal of a healthy population is achievable. The book is essential reading for everyone involved or interested in the development of the EU's obesity prevention policy.

This collection of essays looks at the role the European Union could and should play in promoting healthier lifestyle, in light of the moral, philosophical, legal and political challenges associated with the regulation of individual choices. By tackling the main non-communicable diseases (NCD) risk factors (tobacco consumption, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diets and lack of physical activity), the contributors endeavour to identify common themes and determine whether and, if so, to what extent the lessons learned in relation to each area of EU intervention could be transposed to the others. By focusing on the European Union legal order, the book highlights both the opportunities that legal instruments offer for NCD prevention and control agenda in Europe, as well as the constraints that the law imposes on policy-makers.

One of the most important EU consumer protection directives of the past decade, the 2005 Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, or UCPD, is brought under examination in this stimulating volume. Bringing together leading experts in the comparative law and consumer law domain, the book discusses the impact of the Directive and whether the many possible issues identified at its inception have been borne out in practice. Divided into four parts of 'Implementation, Approximation and Harmonization', 'Vulnerability', 'The UCP Directive and Other Regimes', and finally 'Enforcement', the volume examines the various policy developments, the growing body of case law, the decisions of relevant national enforcement authorities, as well as the legislative debates which have surrounded the implementation of the UCPD in Member States. This book provides a valuable assessment of the impact of a major EU directive almost ten years after its adoption, and as such will be of interest to academics, legal practitioners and the judiciary working in the areas of European and Consumer law.

One of the most important EU consumer protection directives of the past decade, the 2005 Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, or UCPD, is brought under examination in this stimulating volume. Bringing together leading experts in the comparative law and consumer law domain, the book discusses the impact of the Directive and whether the many possible issues identified at its inception have been borne out in practice. Divided into four parts of 'Implementation, Approximation and Harmonization', 'Vulnerability', 'The UCP Directive and Other Regimes', and finally 'Enforcement', the volume examines the various policy developments, the growing body of case law, the decisions of relevant national enforcement authorities, as well as the legislative debates which have surrounded the implementation of the UCPD in Member States. This book provides a valuable assessment of the impact of a major EU directive almost ten years after its adoption, and as such will be of interest to academics, legal practitioners and the judiciary working in the areas of European and Consumer law.