Growing rates of childhood obesity in Kazakhstan prompt authorities to extend regulations beyond school menus to combat unhealthy food promotion across social media and online platforms, mirroring UK’s recent measures.
Kazakhstan is facing a growing childhood obesity problem that health specialists say now demands broader action than school menus alone. The Lada.kz report, citing Kazinform, said excess weight has been identified in 23.2% of children aged five to nine, while officials at the Salidat Kairbekova National Scientific Centre for Health Development say unhealthy food promotion has become a systemic issue requiring coordinated limits on products high in sugar, salt and fat.
The wider evidence points in the same direction. A 2024 study in Obesity Science & Practice found substantial body fat levels among Kazakh children aged eight and nine, underlining the scale of the problem in primary school age groups. The World Health Organisation’s review of the latest round of the European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative also says overweight and obesity remain a major public health challenge for children across the region.
Dietary habits among older children are also concerning. Data cited by the health centre from the 2022 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study show that 66.6% of teenagers in Kazakhstan drank sugary beverages at least once a week, while 14.4% did so daily. The same survey found that 26.6% ate sweets or chocolate every day, and 17.5% consumed energy drinks weekly. The World Obesity Federation’s country data reflects similar patterns of frequent soft drink consumption among children.
The health consequences are already visible. Kazakhstan’s health ministry recorded 1,104 cases of type 2 diabetes among people under 18 in 2025, including 237 newly detected cases. Authorities also registered 110,236 cases of tooth decay in children that year, with another 80,169 cases found in just the first half of 2026, up 2.4% from the same period a year earlier.
Officials say the problem is no longer limited to shops and school canteens. According to the health centre, children are exposed to food marketing across social media, video games, online marketplaces and delivery apps, often reinforced by discounts, toys and celebrity tie-ins. That warning comes as Kazakhstan’s e-commerce market continues to expand: the Bureau of National Statistics said retail online trade reached 3.77tn tenge in 2025, including about 314bn tenge in food deliveries.
The government has already begun tightening some rules. A new school food standard took effect on 1 September 2025, and sales of energy drinks to under-21s were restricted from 1 January 2025, with penalties introduced on 20 January 2026. Health officials now want those limits extended into the digital sphere, including advertising on television, social media, blogs, marketplaces and delivery platforms.
The centre points to Britain as one example of tougher regulation, noting that from 5 January 2026 television advertising for less healthy food has been limited after 9pm and paid online promotion banned around the clock. It also cites a sugar levy introduced in the UK in 2016, after which manufacturers reduced the average sugar content of affected drinks by 46% between 2015 and 2020.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has also raised the issue publicly. Speaking at a teachers’ conference in Astana, he said aggressive fast-food advertising had spread through public space and was encouraging harmful habits among the young, adding that many countries already restrict or ban child-directed marketing for foods high in fat, sugar and salt.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
