Nutrition

Our high OECD obesity ranking could have something to do with the ads that kids see on TV.

Obesity rates are predicted to increase globally until 2030, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). That’s dire news for this country, where more than twothirds of the population are already overweight or obese. And we’re not doing enough to make it easy for people to eat more healthily, says Carol Wham, spokesperson for Dietitians New Zealand.

We have the thirdhighest level of adult obesity in the OECD at 31%, just behind Mexico at 32%. The US has the highest rate: 38%. More than one in 10 New Zealand children are also obese and more than one in five overweight, adding up to a major health crisis.

Although the Ministry of Health launched a childhood obesity plan in 2015 to tackle the problem, the effectiveness of its 22 initiatives has been questioned. A key issue, says Wham, an associate professor in the School of Sport, Exercise and Nutrition at Massey University, is the amount of advertising of unhealthy food. “The food environment is creating roadblocks to parents making good decisions,” she says.

The ministry’s plan acknowledges the significant effect on children of food advertising. But based on a recent study, researchers say the Government’s solution – a voluntary advertising code for the food industry – is ineffective at protecting children from exposure to unhealthy food advertising. Their findings appear in international journal Public Health Nutrition.

They analysed more than 400 hours of free-to-air TV from June to August 2015 and found that an average of 9.1 unhealthy food ads were broadcast each hour, nearly 90% of them during children’s viewing times.

Most children watch two or more hours of TV a day, so in a week they’re potentially viewing 126 unhealthy food adverts. A third of the ads include a promotional character or premium offer aimed at piquing consumer interest.

The Health Ministry’s initiatives

might be getting limited results, but TV advertising’s effectiveness isn’t in question. In a US study, children who watched 10 adverts for high-sugar breakfast cereals in the previous week ate 14% more sugary cereal than their peers. When viewing jumped to 20 ads a week, consumption was 30% higher than for children who saw no adverts.

So should we throw the TV out in the next inorganic collection or is there a better plan to save kids from overexposure to unhealthy food ads?

The advertising industry is self-regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which limits ads during ASA-defined children’s viewing times. However, according to the researchers, these times don’t match children’s actual viewing patterns.

A recent Government-initiated review of the ASA’s codes of practice relating to children and food advertising aimed at children has led to the two being combined. The definition of a child has been revised to now include people aged 15-18, a new definition of occasional food has been created and there are new restrictions on advertising occasional food in children’s settings.

The changes appear positive, but more than 70 health academics don’t think they go far enough. Writing in the New Zealand Medical Journal in February, they said the new code “largely represents no change or uncertain change from the existing codes and cannot be expected to provide substantial protection for children and young people from the marketing of unhealthy foods”.

In Norway, TV ads of any sort are not allowed to be directed at children. At least seven OECD countries have tightened their regulation of advertising since 2011, including Chile, Iceland, Ireland and Mexico, which have banned advertising of food and drinks on TV and radio during hours when children are the main audience.

Mexico’s advertising ban follows the introduction of a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks. Clearly, it is working hard to drop its unwelcome title as the second-most obese adult population in the OECD. If we aren’t careful, we’ll end up with that dubious honour.

In a week, most children are potentially viewing 126 unhealthy food adverts.