Watershed urged for junk food advertising to protect child health

THE GOVERNMENT should introduce a 9pm watershed on junk food advertising to protect children’s health and human rights, a report argues.

The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) said countries including the UK were failing to protect children from the effects of “harmful” junk food marketing. This a human rights issue, the report argues, because the UK has a duty to “protect, respect and fulfil children’s right to health”.

Previous research has shown that seeing 4.4 minutes of food advertising was associated with children eating 60 more calories a day, while eating as little as 46 extra calories each day could lead to excess weight. The body says marketing restrictions are “urgently required” because limiting children’s exposure to products high in fat, salt and sugar would reduce how much of them they consume.

Restrictions would limit the impact on children’s food and drink preferences, their eating behaviour, food intake and carers’ food selection.

Caroline Cerny, from the Obesity Health Alliance, said: “The food industry use a range of marketing techniques to keep the spotlight on their products and evidence shows that children are particularly vulnerable.

“TV shows and websites popular with children are flooded with adverts for high fat and sugary products and the Government needs to do more to ensure that children are adequately protected.

“There is overwhelming public support for a 9pm watershed on junk food adverts across all types of media.

“If we ignore the evidence and calls for stronger marketing restrictions to uphold child rights and improve child health, the UK will not make progress on reversing its childhood obesity rates.”

In the UK, advertising of high fat, salt and sugar foods is banned on dedicated children’s television channels and also around programmes “of particular appeal” to the under-16s (where they make up over 25 per cent of the audience). In 2017 the Government introduced self-regulatory rules applying to traditional and online non-broadcast media, such as magazines, cinema billboards near schools, social media platforms and apps.