Abstract
Soda industry efforts to manipulate obesity science and policy in the US are well documented, yet little is known about whether the industry has pursued similar efforts abroad. In-depth research in China—analyses of interviews with prominent Chinese obesity experts, and of trends in obesity-related activities documented in newsletters of China’s lead organization on obesity, a branch of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI), a US-based, corporate-funded, global nonprofit strongly influenced by the Coca-Cola Company—showed that from 1999 to 2015, China’s obesity science and policy shifted markedly toward physical activity as Coca-Cola’s influence in China increased. This shift aligned with Coca-Cola’s message that it is activity, not diet, that matters—a claim few public health scholars accept. These changes correlated with the growing importance of Coca-Cola’s funding, ideas, and affiliated researchers via ILSI-China. In putting its massive resources behind only one side of the science, and with no other parties sufficiently resourced to champion more balanced solutions that included regulation of the food industry, the company, working through ILSI, re-directed China’s chronic disease science, potentially compromising the public’s health.
Highlights
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users
During 2011–2015, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo lobbied against United States (US) legislation aimed at reducing soda intake, simultaneously paying millions of dollars to health organizations, some of which reversed their opposition to soda bans [6]
Coca-Cola has rolled back its aggressive promotion of the science of physical activity, its influence continues to be felt in China, for the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) structure remains in place
Summary
Two main data sources were used: (1) semi-structured, in-depth interviews with Chinese obesity specialists (analyzed to identify key themes); and (2) data extracted from the 1999–2015 issues of the newsletter of ILSI-China. (See online Supplemental Content, Appendix 1, for full methodological information on interviews, newsletters, online-sourced material, and statistical analyses, www...). By 2003, ILSI-China had defined body mass index cutoffs for obesity and created guidelines for obesity prevention and management that were issued in the name of the MOH, firmly establishing it as China’s primary obesity-related science and policymaking organization (quotes 2c–e, online Supplemental Content, Table of Key Quotations). In 2005-2006, in a series of meetings that brought together Chinese agencies (MOH, China CDC), UN agencies (UNICEF, WHO), ILSI-China, and food companies supporting ILSI-China, the companies were mobilized to partner in the fight against obesity and chronic disease more generally This move was in line with the WHO Global Strategy that called for public–private collaborations and assigned private-sector companies important roles as “advocates for healthy lifestyles” and “responsible employers.” [30] with ILSI’s encouragement, China urged industry to take an unusually large role in its health affairs. Nutritional approaches promoting healthy foods, dietary guidelines, and nutritional education remained on the books, they had had little (or only corporate) funding, visibility, or active support
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
