How children are still bombarded with commercials for junk food

YOUNGSTERS are still being bombarded with junk food advertisements despite a ban on such commercials during children’s programmes.

Adverts for products high in fat, salt or sugar are still seen in other shows before the 9pm watershed – which are widely viewed by children.

Half of television food and drink adverts seen by children are for these unhealthy items or for fast food restaurants, according to research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

The findings come a day after MPs called for a ban on junk food advertising prior to the 9pm watershed. It emerged earlier this week that the childhood obesity crisis was growing, with more than 22,500 ten and 11-year-olds now classed as being severely obese.

The advertising of junk food products has been banned during children’s programmes since 2007.

But the IFS found 70 per cent of TV campaigns for products high in fat, sugar and salt or restaurants and bars were now screened before the 9pm watershed. And it said 87 per cent of the TV advertising for food and drink seen by children aged four to 15 appeared during non- children’s programming.

Rebekah Stroud, a research economist at IFS, said: ‘A lot of the TV advertising that children see is not during children’s programming, leading to calls to extend the ban to all advertising before the watershed.’

The health select committee said earlier this week that higher tax rates should be slapped on unhealthy foods to combat Britain’s obesity epidemic.