Uk's Restrictions on Junk Food Advertising to Children
UK’s restrictions on junk food advertising to children UK UK’S RESTRICTIONS ON JUNK FOOD ADVERTISING TO CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL LEARNING SERIES / 3 PUBLISHED JULY 2017 INTERNATIONAL LEARNING SERIES 3 / UK/ 1 UK’s restrictions on junk food advertising to children SUMMARY The UK food industry expenditure promoting ‘unhealthy’ foods for purchase in retail settings Strong evidence was more than £250 million in 2014 (Public Health England, 2015b). This is of concern from systematic to public health advocates. Strong evidence from systematic reviews has shown that the reviews has shown marketing of high fat, sugar and/or salt (HFSS) foods contributes to children’s preferences, that the marketing purchase requests and consumption patterns (Hastings et al., 2003)(Kraak & Story, 2015) of high fat, sugar The majority of foods and drinks children see advertised are HFSS – for example, and/or salt (HFSS) fast foods, soft drinks, sugar-sweetened cereals, confectionery, and savoury snacks foods contributes (Public Health England, 2015b) – while only 1.2% of broadcast advertising spend goes on to children’s promoting fresh vegetables (Food Foundation, 2016b). preferences, purchase International attention on the harmful role of marketing on children’s food preferences, requests and purchasing behaviour and consumption, and obesity and other diet-related health consumption patterns conditions has steadily built over recent decades (Swinburn et al., 2008). Much of the early evidence was presented to the UK government by its advisory body, the Food Standards Agency, in 2003 (Hastings et al., 2003). In 2016, the World Health Organisation drew on a rich and robust evidence base linking extensive and persistent marketing to children’s dietary preferences, and stated that “the settings where children and adolescents gather, and the screen-based offerings they watch, should be free of unhealthy foods and sugar sweetened beverages” (World Health Organisation, 2016).
[Show full text]