Calls for restricting the marketing of unhealthy foods to children ignored by policy makers: What can we do?

Unhealthy diet is the leading risk factor for death, life-years lost, and disability in Canada according to the latest Global Burden of Disease Study, which estimated that 65 722 Canadians died and 864 032 life-years were lost in 2010 as a result of unhealthy diet. Unhealthy diet, broadly defined by the World Health Organization as being high in saturated fats, trans fatty acids, free sugars, or sodium, is a substantial contributor to much of the global and national disease burden through obesity, dyslipidemia, diabetes, and hypertension.