International human rights law and the prevention of childhood obesity

This article surveys the application of international human rights law to obesity prevention laws, such as restrictions on marketing unhealthy food to children, interpretive front-of-pack labelling, healthy food policies in schools and the public sector, and taxes on unhealthy products. It discusses the right to health, the right to food, freedom of commercial speech, the rights of the child and a range of World Health Organization initiatives. Such instruments can provide both constitutional power and political cover for such measures, as well as providing policy guidance in selecting the most appropriate ones.