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13/11/2007
Junk Food Ad Rules 'Still Failing Children'
Restrictions on junk food advertising are still not adequately protecting children, consumer group Which? has claimed.
Which? has renewed calls for a 9pm watershed for junk food ads after it conducted research which found that more than half of the 20 programmes most watched by children under 10 were not covered by current rules.
The restrictions, which were introduced in April, ban adverts for foods that are high in fat, salt or sugar from being shown in or around programmes aimed at or which appeal to the under 10s.
However, Which? said that the rules were based on the proportion of children watching a programme rather than the actual number.
The consumer group said that this meant that adverts promoting unhealthy foods were not allowed during programmes such as 'The Simpsons', which has a child audience of 163,200, but are allowed during programmes such as 'The X Factor', which has nearly three times the child audience at 442,300.
Which? looked at the TV viewing figures for ITV 1, Channel 4 and 5 for two weeks in September to see which programmes children under 10 and children under 16 were watching in the largest numbers.
Their analysis of the adverts during the programmes with the most child viewers found that products such as Mars Planets, Kinder Bueno, Milky Way, Smarties and Twix were being advertised at these times.
In January 2008, the current rules will be extended to programmes with a high proportion of viewers under the age of 16.
However, Which? said that if those rules applied today, just two of the programmes in the Top 20 had the highest number of viewers under 10. These programmes included: 'Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway', 'New You've Been Framed’ and 'The X-Factor'.
Which? food campaigner Miranda Watson said: "This research shows that unhealthy foods are being advertised during the programmes with the highest number of child viewers, such as 'The X-Factor'. The only way to shield children from TV ads for unhealthy foods is a 9pm watershed.
"There is no silver bullet in the fight against obesity but tougher restrictions on the way unhealthy foods are marketed to children will play an important role in helping parents to instill healthy eating habits in their children."
(KMcA)
Which? has renewed calls for a 9pm watershed for junk food ads after it conducted research which found that more than half of the 20 programmes most watched by children under 10 were not covered by current rules.
The restrictions, which were introduced in April, ban adverts for foods that are high in fat, salt or sugar from being shown in or around programmes aimed at or which appeal to the under 10s.
However, Which? said that the rules were based on the proportion of children watching a programme rather than the actual number.
The consumer group said that this meant that adverts promoting unhealthy foods were not allowed during programmes such as 'The Simpsons', which has a child audience of 163,200, but are allowed during programmes such as 'The X Factor', which has nearly three times the child audience at 442,300.
Which? looked at the TV viewing figures for ITV 1, Channel 4 and 5 for two weeks in September to see which programmes children under 10 and children under 16 were watching in the largest numbers.
Their analysis of the adverts during the programmes with the most child viewers found that products such as Mars Planets, Kinder Bueno, Milky Way, Smarties and Twix were being advertised at these times.
In January 2008, the current rules will be extended to programmes with a high proportion of viewers under the age of 16.
However, Which? said that if those rules applied today, just two of the programmes in the Top 20 had the highest number of viewers under 10. These programmes included: 'Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway', 'New You've Been Framed’ and 'The X-Factor'.
Which? food campaigner Miranda Watson said: "This research shows that unhealthy foods are being advertised during the programmes with the highest number of child viewers, such as 'The X-Factor'. The only way to shield children from TV ads for unhealthy foods is a 9pm watershed.
"There is no silver bullet in the fight against obesity but tougher restrictions on the way unhealthy foods are marketed to children will play an important role in helping parents to instill healthy eating habits in their children."
(KMcA)
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