Junk Food Advertising Targeting Children Should Be Banned On Apps And At Cinemas, Urges Charity | HuffPost Life

'It’s a big concern for parents.'

By

Life editor at HuffPost UK

Children should not be able to see junk food adverts in apps, on social media or even in the cinema, a national kids’ food charity has urged.

The Children’s Food Trust’s comments came after the publication of a World Health Organisation (WHO) report that addressed concerns around advertising in apps, on social media and vlogs.

The WHO report also stated that apps such as Pokemon Go can encourage kids to go near fast food chains by making the restaurants’ locations notable in the app.

The Children’s Food Trust’s CEO, Linda Cregan, told The Huffington Post UK she would welcome a ban on digital junk food advertising that targets kids, but she believes this needs to be part of a broader approach to tackling food marketing.

“It’s a big concern for parents and it’s high time we looked more closely at the role of food marketing in supporting a better diet for children, and in creating an environment which helps, rather than hinders, their learning about eating well,” she said.

Dwight Eschliman via Getty Images

Cregan told HuffPost UK the Children’s Food Trust has already made a submission to the Committee on Advertising Practice’s (CAP) consultation on changing the rules about advertising junk food to children.

The Trust wants to see tougher rules on advertising of foods high in fat, sugar and salt to children – with consistency across all media advertising including on TV, online, at the cinema, at events, on packaging and through in-store promotions.

The charity is currently awaiting CAP’s response.

“Education is an important part of helping every child to eat well,” said Cregan.

“We need to give them the skills to grow up to be savvy consumers, able to make healthier choices about food and drink.”

“At the moment, children’s education about healthy food choices is made far more difficult by techniques used to advertise foods high in fat, sugar and salt to children via all sorts of places, events and media, including apps aimed at children.”

The charity’s submission to the CAP also included the following recommendations:

The placement of adverts for foods high in fat should be restricted in all media to children aged 15 and younger.
Rules on banning junk food messages to children should be applied to characters created by advertisers to sell brands, as these characters have a high influence on kids’ food choices.
There should be no advertising during family shows on TV, not just kids’ shows.

Mum Katrina Boyle agreed an all-around approach needs to be taken to tackle how food is advertised to kids.

When asked what she thinks needs to happen, she told HuffPost UK Parents on Facebook: “Shops selling healthier options and banning things with high sugar and honest labelling of sweets, crisps and pre-packaged food.”

How do you think should be done to tackle how junk food is advertised to children? Let us know in the comments below.

Before You Go

Food waste facts

We're losing money(01 of15)

Wasting edible food costs the average household £470 a year, rising to £700 a year for households with children. (credit:Zoonar RF via Getty Images)

It's not rocket science(02 of15)

Brits waste seven million tonnes of food a year, and up to 60% of that could have been eaten. We throw away good food for two main reasons: we either cook or prepare too much, or don't use it in time. (credit:fuzzbones0 via Getty Images)

But it's a LOT of food(03 of15)

The amount of that which we could have eaten or drunk is 4.2 million tonnes - enough to fill 8,400 Olympic-sized swimming pools. (credit:Veronica Garbutt via Getty Images)

Really, a lot(04 of15)

Or, if you'd like to imagine it another way, it would fill 210 Royal Albert Halls or five Wembley Stadiums. (credit:shutterstock)

We start but we don't finish(05 of15)

Of that, the majority (2 million tonnes) is food that is either unopened, or started but not finished - for example half a loaf of bread, or an unused slide of bacon. (credit:Thomas J Peterson via Getty Images)

Food waste is worse in our homes(06 of15)

While there's been lots of attention supermarkets, most food waste in the UK - 70% after food leaves farms - comes from our homes.

In comparison, supermarkets generate about 2%, while food manufacturing is responsible for 17%. The hospitality and food service industry, such as restaurants, accounts for 9%. (credit:Ridofranz via Getty Images)

Even worse than another big problem(07 of15)

Every year, people in the UK throw away more food from our homes than packaging. (credit:ShotShare via Getty Images)

The common culprits(08 of15)

The most-wasted types of food and drink that could have been used are bread, potato, milk, fizzy drinks, fruit juice and smoothies, poultry, pork, ham and bacon, cakes and pastries. (credit:SSPL via Getty Images)

Wasting good wine(09 of15)

We also throw away £270 million worth of wine form our homes each year, as well as £200 million worth of soft drinks, and £150 million worth of fruit juice and smoothies. (credit:Nicolas Wayne via Getty Images)

Nothing wrong with wonky(10 of15)

One of the biggest problems is prejudice over "wonky" fruit and veg - nearly a third of us (30%) told Sainsbury's we would throw a banana away if it has even a small bruise, wasting perfectly edible fruit. (credit:SageElyse via Getty Images)

Gaseous problem(11 of15)

Most wasted food that reaches landfill sits through our rubbish system emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas 25 times more powerful than CO2, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climae Change. (credit:Louise Murray / robertharding via Getty Images)

But it's not all bad news(12 of15)

Between 2007 and 2012, the UK's avoidable food waste has reduced by 21%, over one million tonnes. That amount of food would fill 23 million wheelie bins. (credit:Emma Farrer via Getty Images)

More money for councils(13 of15)

This reduction in residual waste saved councils around £85 million from sending less food to landfill in 2012 alone. (credit:gkrphoto via Getty Images)

And less water wasted(14 of15)

Not to mention a billion litres of water that would have been used to grow and produce the food. (credit:Hemera Technologies via Getty Images)

Saving the planet(15 of15)

Stopping food waste also has a huge benefit for the planet - removing all wasted food would save 4.4 million tonnes of CO2 a year - the equivalent to taking one in four cars off the road. (credit:TomasSereda via Getty Images)

Related

uk parents Family Children child health Childhood Obesity

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