Time to end marketing of junk food to children

HAS the fact that it’s cheap, and that it stimulates the pleasure centres in our brains, lulled us completely into ignoring the fact that junk food is rapidly becoming a serious threat to our children’s health? If it has, then perhaps a shocking warning from the Irish Heart Foundation, that some food giants are using marketing techniques to covertly target young children on the internet and over social media, is needed.

The foundation believes they are using secretive means on the lines similar to those used by Cambridge Analytica, to build relationships with small children, bonding them to their brands, with the potential for serious harm to their future health.

The warning comes at a time when there are real fears that Ireland will soon top Europe’s obesity tables.

We will thus have the distinction of being the nation with the highest number of obese men, women and children on the continent.

Should we continue as we are, 90pc of our population will be overweight or obese by 2030, unless there is a radical shift in policy.

Already, one-in-four children falls into this category. Surely we are obligated to guarantee our children the best chance for a healthy diet and lifestyle?

This can not be done without shielding them from advertising and marketing of foods and drinks known to drive obesity.

Ideally the food industry would meet its responsibilities but given that it has not, the State must ban irresponsible or harmful advertising to children.

Curbs on targeting children are crucial, but there is also a real need to prioritise healthy eating and physical activity.

In the past there have been calls to ban TV advertising of foods high in fat, salt and sugar up to 9pm.

The Irish Heart Foundation’s call for an outright ban on the marketing of junk foods to children under the age of 16 must be listened to and acted on.