[submission to UN Working Group on business & human rights]

In May 2011, teachers, parents and activists met in Montreal to participate in the second “Screen Overdose Conference”...

Screens have become the favourite past time of young people in North America and Europe. Both the Kaiser Family Foundation and Active Health Kids Canada found that the average screen time exposure of children exceeds 40 hours per week. Many studies have revealed that screen time exposure plays a major role in the health habits of children and teens. Two industries--entertainment and marketing--use a variety of content to attract young people...

In May 2010, soon after its 63rd World Health Assembly, the World Health Organization (WHO) posted the following statement, pointing at the marketing of foods and non-alcoholic beverages to children as a major factor for obesity: "...Evidence also shows that television advertising influences children’s food preferences, purchase requests and consumption patterns and that increasingly children are being exposed to a wide range of other marketing techniques."