As I said yesterday:
any real progress is going to have to involve ruffling some serious feathers in the food and drinks industry and I just do not think that any Government in the UK or USA (maybe in Australia) is going to be brave enough to do this
And less than 24 hours later, the BBC have reported that the National Heart Forum have taken that step and have indeed ruffled some feathers.
In light of the recent (and not so recent) studies and press coverage of the child obesity problem the NHF have prepared to take Ofcom to court over its decision not to consider a pre-watershed ban on junk food advertising.
Summarising the situation beautifully, Deputy Chief Executive of the NHF, Jane Landon, said
“We are dismayed that Ofcom has weighed industry profits against children’s health, compromised this important consultation and forced us to take this unprecedented step of seeking a fair consultation through the courts.
Which? have also backed this with their findings that 79% of UK parents wanted the junk-food adverts banned at times when children were most likely to watch TV - which from their study seems to be around 6-9pm. In fact, they went as far as to say that Ofcom’s suggestions were a “total sham”.
(You can help Which? take action against Ofcom by clicking here)
Thankfully, these two organisations have also received the backing of industry heavyweights including the British Medical Association, the Royal Society for Public Health and Diabetes UK.
Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming have also issued a statement backing these sentiments:
Richard Watts, Children’s Food Bill campaign coordinator at Sustain, said: “If Ofcom are serious about putting children’s health above the narrow interests of the food and advertising industries they should stop all junk food TV ads before the 9pm watershed.
“Kid’s don’t just watch children’s programmes. The figures show that Coronation Street is the commercial TV programme most watched by children.
“Unless kids are protected from junk food adverts during programmes like ‘X Factor’, ‘The Bill’ or ‘I’m a Celebrity…’ new rules will be meaningless.
“Most research, including Ofcom’s own, shows TV advertising has an effect on children’s diets. The health time bomb of childhood obesity can only be defused by radical action. Anything less and Ofcom will have failed in its duty to protect the public. If sit does, we will look to the Government to take action to protect our kids by supporting the Children’s Food Bill.”
Come on Ofcom, it is time for a change and this is your chance to really make a difference!
2 responses so far ↓
1 Holly Goheavily // May 24, 2006 at 5:23 am
Hi Ross
Foods that cause children to become obese should come with a warning just like cigarettes and alcohol products do. I was a fat pre-teen, teen and now adult and I’m relieved to see that people in high places are giving attention to this problem. Perhaps if enough horn blowing is done about it, they’ll be less kids growing up that will suffer both mentally and physically as a result.
Thank you SO much for reporting on this serious subject!
2 Ross // May 24, 2006 at 6:10 am
Hi
Yep - it alarms me that with 1-in-5 adults in the UK currently obese we are looking at a serious problem. However, with 1-in-4 children now obese, we are staring at an even bigger problem in the future!!! (not sure on US or ROW haven’t got statistics to hand)
Research shows that liklihood of obesity rises as we grow older, suggesting that there is easily the potential for us to be facing the reality of 1-in-3 adults being obese once this generation of children grows up.
And yet, to date, the Govenment seem to have focussed on ’solutions’ which have more impact on statistics than they do on actually tackling the root cause of the problem. It has always been the way with the UK health system that we treat the symptoms and not the cause - how backwards is that?
But the effect that obesity has on propensity for a wide range of other degenerative diseases and illness including cancer, CVD, diabetes through to immune system-effected illnesses such as viruses, flu, etc is such large that in 10,15 or 20 years time the health cost to these Governments is going to sky rocket.
Let’s hope that this action taken by the NHF is the first in a long line of health organisations who have some clout out there!
I guess we will see…
Leave a Comment