Ban TV junk food ads before 9pm watershed, says RCPCH

Why a ban on junk food advertising before the 9pm watershed?

Food manufacturers globally spend vast amounts of money annually to advertise foods high in saturated fats, sugar and salt to children and young people. The evidence around the effectiveness of this investment is apparent both in the food manufacturers’ profits, but also in research studies assessing their impact on children’s consumption of unhealthy food.

• A systematic review produced on behalf of the Food Standards Agency in 2003 concluded that there was “sufficient evidence to show that food promotion can have and is having an effect on children, particularly in the areas of food preferences, purchase behaviour and consumption
   
• A further review of the literature found that 'the quantity of advertising on children’s television appears to be related to the prevalence of excess body weight among children.'

The RCPCH supports the Sydney principles 'for achieving a substantial level of protection for children against the commercial promotion of foods and beverages'. These offer a robust series of seven principles by which regulation should be assessed. It should:

• Support the rights of the child, by aligning and supporting the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
• Afford substantial protection to children from commercial exploitation
• Be statutory in nature – industry self-regulation is ineffectual and insufficient
• Take a wide definition of commercial promotions
• Guarantee commercial-free childhood settings such as schools, children’s centres etc
• Include cross-border media, such as the internet
• Be evaluated, monitored and enforced to ensure that is effective

RCPCH believes that by introducing such measures it would help to create an environment in which children are protected from commercial pressures and that children should grow up in commercial-free environments.

As a minimum, we would recommend the banning of advertising of foods high in fat, sugar or salt before the watershed of 9pm. Similar measures should also be explored for other media, including, where possible, the internet, print and broadcast.