The childs right to health as a tool to end childhood obesity

This chapter analyses states’ obligations to prevent childhood obesity under international law, drawing on the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the World Health Organization’s Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity (ECHO). We outline and compare recommendations on ending childhood obesity stemming from ECHO and the Committee on the Rights of the Child, as well as other UN experts. We propose a children’s rights approach: states should build the capacities of rights holders and duty bearers, and fulfil children’s rights, through crafting an enabling environment, pursuing empowerment through societal and legal transformation, and ensuring accountability. While parents play an important role, states control the regulatory environment. Yet, states must at the same time not expose children to stigma. We conclude that human rights and public health can be mutually reinforcing: WHO provides evidence-based technical guidance, while the CRC legally binds states. WHO’s recommendations can concretize States’ rather vague obligations under the right to health.