Call for ban on pre-watershed junk food ads

JUNK food advertisements should be banned before the 9pm watershed to prevent manufacturers getting round rules designed to protect children, leading doctors and campaigners have said.

Research has found six in 10 food and drink commercials shown during shows watched by children are for products high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS). Under current rules they would be prohibited during specific children’s programming but are allowed during shows such as The Voice and Hollyoaks, which attract hundreds of thousands of minors.

The study by the Obesity Health Alliance and the University of Liverpool found that in some cases children were “bombarded” with up to nine junk food advertisements in 30 minutes.

Experts said the “grim” findings showed the UK was “losing the fight” against childhood obesity. They are calling on the Government to ban HFSS advertising before 9pm and to ban brands associated with junk food from advertising during any shows popular with children.

This year, a prohibition on junk food advertising aimed at children online and in particular on social media came into force; however, campaigners have criticised the Government’s willingness to tackle big food manufacturers’ use of television.

The Obesity Health Alliance, which includes several Medical Royal Colleges among its membership, analysed adverts shown before and during some of the most popular TV programmes on ITV, Channel 4 and E4 between 6pm to 9pm, when the number of children watching television peaks.

They found a single episode of Hollyoaks, watched by an average of 140,000 children during the study period, showed nine HFSS adverts in just 30 minutes. These included adverts for Mcdonald’s, Domino’s Pizza, Haribo and Oreo.

Nikki Joule, the policy manager of Diabetes UK, said: “This report makes clear that the junk food advertising rules are failing children and their families.”