REGULATION FOR ADVERTISEMENTS, BUT WOULD CONSIDER OTHER OPTIONS IF THAT FAILED. ADVERTISING AND MARKETING AIMED AT CHILDREN HAS CLIMBED UP THE EU'S POLITICAL AGENDA, WITH SOME MEMBER STATES LIMITING ENERGY-RICH SNACKS AND SUGAR-SWEETENED SOFT DRINKS AVAILABLE IN SCHOOL VENDING MACHINES. OBESITY IS A RISK FACTOR FOR SERIOUS ILLNESSES SUCH AS HEART DISEASE, TYPE-TWO DIABETES, HYPERTENSION, STROKE, OSTEOPOROSIS AND CERTAIN TYPES OF CANCER. A TOTAL OF 14 MILLION EUROPEANS ARE CURRENTLY OVERWEIGHT OR OBESE, OF WHICH MORE THAN 3 MILLION ARE CHILDREN. DURING THE PAST DECADE, OBESITY LEVELS HAVE RISEN BY BETWEEN 10 AND 40 PER CENT ACROSS THE EU. WHETHER A PERSON IS OVERWEIGHT OR OBESE IS ASSESSED BY USING BODY MASS INDEX (BMI), DEFINED AS WEIGHT IN KILOGRAMMES DIVIDED BY THE SQUARE OF THE HEIGHT IN METRES. A BMI OVER 25 MEANS OVERWEIGHT, AND A BMI OF OVER 30 OBESE.
