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Junk Food Ads and Childhood Obesity

Junk Food Ads and Childhood Obesity

Junk Food Ads Contribute to Childhood Obesity

Despite rising childhood obesity rates and evidence that showed most parents were opposed to junk food ads, television advertising still hasn’t been regulated. The Coalition on Food Advertising to Children (CFAC) was formed in 2002 to advocate for better regulations on food marketing to children. Supporters believed that although restriction of television advertisements would not solve the childhood obesity problem, it would reduce exposure to unhealthy food messages.

The CFAC commissioned a national survey of a random representative sample of 400 parents of children under the age of 14 to address parents’ concerns that junk-food companies were profiting from the attention of gullible children during prime time children’s television. The survey found that 86.2 percent of parents would prefer a ban on advertising junk food to children and 88.7 percent would like to see tighter government regulations on television advertising to children. Following the survey, the CFAC initiated a “Pull the Plug” campaign and received 6,000 signatures to pressure the government to review the existing regulations.

A review conducted by the World Health Organization in 2006 found a positive correlation between food advertising and children’s dietary choices that had implications for weight gain and obesity. Subsequent government reviews in 2007 did not concur with this finding and although children’s television standards were updated in 2009, the new regulations did not include any restriction on the content of advertisements for food beyond limitations on the length of the advertisement and specification that the ads must not deceive or mislead children. Food was not listed in the section that addressed material deemed unsuitable for viewing by children. 

Ignoring the effects of junk food on childhood obesity, the government’s primary reason for not restricting food advertising was that it would affect profitability. 

To learn more see: Encourage Your Kid's to Eat More Vegies and Fruit.

Image: Dundanim/Shutterstock

Resources:

Parents Call to Pull the Plug on Junk Food Ads – TheFoodCoach

Food Marketing to Children – The Cancer Council

Advertising to Children – Australian Communications and Media Authority

Children’s Television Standards 2009 – Australian Communications and Media Authority

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