Feeding profit, failing children (Embargoed press briefing)

*ALL INFORMATION SHARED IN THIS PRESS BRIEFING IS STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL 00:01 GMT / 07:01 BANGKOK, 10 SEPTEMBER 2025

Aggressive junk food marketing is driving record levels of childhood obesity in East Asia and the Pacific.

Childhood obesity in East Asia and the Pacific is rising at alarming speed. A new UNICEF report, Turning the tide on childhood overweight in East Asia and the Pacific: Building better food environments for children, reveals the region is now home to 115 million children who are overweight or obese -- one in four. The number has nearly tripled since 2000.

The report highlights how junk food marketing and the flood of cheap, ultra-processed products are fueling this epidemic, putting millions of children at risk of lifelong health problems.

Join us at the FCCT for a press briefing on these urgent findings and the call for stronger policies to protect children’s right to healthy food.

Speakers:

Dr Roland Kupka, Regional Nutrition Adviser, UNICEF East Asia and the Pacific.

Dr Saipin Chotivichian, Director, Bureau of Nutrition, Department of Health, Thailand.

Myat Pan Khit (Florence), Change Maker, Myanmar.

Moderator: Sarah Newey, journalist.

Kindly RSVP by 7 September 2025 to Chiara Frisone at [cfrisone@unicef.org](mailto:cfrisone@unicef.org) or +66 626925897 to confirm your attendance in person at the FCCT and/or receive the Zoom link.