Food manufacturer Unilever has promised to stop marketing its ice cream products to children to help address the increasing obesity rates.
Unilever vowed to halt its marketing of ice cream brands, including Twister ice cream and Popsicle ice lollies, to children in order to help curb the rising obesity rates.
The firm said it would limit the use of cartoon characters in its advertising as well as stop using social media stars or celebrities "who primarily appeal" to children under 12. Unilever stated that the new rules will apply to all of its products by the end of 2020.
It will begin implementing these on its Wall's ice cream brands, which include Max, Paddle Pop and Twister.
In the past, the food giant's ads for its ice creams have been removed over complaints that they marketed unhealthy food to children.
In addition to this, Wall's will also introduce a range of "responsibly made" products for children that contain "no more than 110 calories and a maximum of 12g of sugar per portion".
Matt Close, executive vice president of the Unilever's global ice cream business, said: "Our promise is a genuine commitment to make and market products to children responsibly."
Under the new rules, the company said it planned "strict controls" on the placement of ads in movies and would not appeal to children under age 12 on traditional media or 13 on social media.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 18% of children and adolescents or more than 340 million people aged 5 to 19, were overweight globally in 2016, increasing from a measly 4% in 1975.
The WHO stated that there is "unequivocal evidence" that the marketing of unhealthy foods is related to the problem and recommends that governments limit the reach of such advertising.
As a result, several governments, including UK, Chile, Mexico and Ireland, have all implemented stricter rules for children's advertising over the last decade.
