finnz
Mon, Dec-01-03, 08:09
Following article from the UK Guardian
Looks like they've finally discovered the dangers of excessive sugar in food.
Curb on junk food adverts to combat child obesity
Health 'crisis' prompts government action
Jackie Ashley, Patrick Wintour and Mark Oliver
Monday December 1, 2003
The Guardian
The government is to intervene in Britain's obesity crisis by asking the new television regulator Ofcom to draw up a tough code on junk food and drinks advertisements directed at children.
In an interview with the Guardian, the culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, said she was worried about the "growing crisis of obesity in children" and would call on Ofcom to revise the "inadequate code" on advertising.
She said she wanted it tightened up "in the light of the emerging evidence about the impact of advertising, and I hope that it will reflect the willingness of the food manufacturers to promote healthy eating".
Her plan was angrily rejected by the food and drink industry, which claimed an exemplary code already existed that had been rigidly followed by the industry.
The initiative comes alongside a consultation by the Food Standards Agency on a new approach to advertising children's food due to be completed in the new year. Options proposed by the FSA include setting criteria for independent broadcasters on "the numbers and types of food adverts for less healthy foods to be shown during children's television".
It also suggested banning food adverts aimed at pre-school children and restricting the use of children's TV presenters, cartoon characters and celebrities to persuade children to buy food that is high in sugar or salt.
Ms Jowell's decision at this stage to back a toughened code, rather than simply banning food advertising during children's TV outright, will disappoint some campaigners.
She did not rule out an outright ban, saying that if the food industry failed to work for the public interest the government had a "protective responsibility" to shield children from forces beyond their control.
Latest figures show that 8.5% of six-year-olds and 15% of 15-year-olds are obese, according to Health Check, the 2002 annual report of the chief medical officer for England.
Figures released yesterday showed that Scottish children experience some of the highest levels of obesity in the developed world, with one in five 12-year-olds meeting the clinical definition of the condition.
Ms Jowell has been reluctant to expose herself to charges of running a nanny state, but there is a growing mood in Downing Street that better preventive measures are vital to cutting health inequalities, curbing an escalating NHS budget and producing a healthier society.
The food and drink industry, anxious to protect its markets, has been vociferously lobbying against a ban, or the alternative of a tax on fatty foods. The industry blames the child obesity epidemic on unbalanced diets and lack of physical activity, but says it is willing to cooperate on clearer food packaging labelling.
A spokesperson for the Food and Drink Federation, which represents the industry, said: "There is already a strict code in existence which the food and drink industry has an exemplary record of obeying."
The spokesperson said the code was overseen by the Independent Television Commission and the Advertising Standards Authority and promoted by the Advertising Association, which represents advertisers.
Jeremy Preston, a former head of a cereal firm who is currently the director of the food advertising unit - which acts under the auspices of the Advertising Association - said there was a "real willingness in the industry to engage with the serious problem of obesity".
Ms Jowell's move is part of a wider plan to radically cut obesity in Britain over the next 15 years. The government's big conversation document last week warned: "A growing contribution to health inequalities now comes from the higher rates of smoking, poor diet and lack of physical activity among poorer people."
The document raised the prospect of a ban on the advertising of unhealthy food aimed at children.
The FSA last month published a report by Professor Gerard Hastings which concluded that advertising to children does have an effect on their food preferences, purchasing behaviour and consumption, and that these effects occur not just at brand level, but also for different types of food.
The Commons health select committee is expected to report in January on the issue, after being told last week by some of the biggest corporations, including McDonald's and Cadbury, that the obesity epidemic is not their fault.
MPs have already suggested that foods and drinks should carry indications of how much physical exercise would be needed to burn off the calories in the product, an idea that the government is likely to look favourably on.
The big supermarkets, including Tesco, will be questioned on the plan by MPs on Thursday.
Looks like they've finally discovered the dangers of excessive sugar in food.
Curb on junk food adverts to combat child obesity
Health 'crisis' prompts government action
Jackie Ashley, Patrick Wintour and Mark Oliver
Monday December 1, 2003
The Guardian
The government is to intervene in Britain's obesity crisis by asking the new television regulator Ofcom to draw up a tough code on junk food and drinks advertisements directed at children.
In an interview with the Guardian, the culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, said she was worried about the "growing crisis of obesity in children" and would call on Ofcom to revise the "inadequate code" on advertising.
She said she wanted it tightened up "in the light of the emerging evidence about the impact of advertising, and I hope that it will reflect the willingness of the food manufacturers to promote healthy eating".
Her plan was angrily rejected by the food and drink industry, which claimed an exemplary code already existed that had been rigidly followed by the industry.
The initiative comes alongside a consultation by the Food Standards Agency on a new approach to advertising children's food due to be completed in the new year. Options proposed by the FSA include setting criteria for independent broadcasters on "the numbers and types of food adverts for less healthy foods to be shown during children's television".
It also suggested banning food adverts aimed at pre-school children and restricting the use of children's TV presenters, cartoon characters and celebrities to persuade children to buy food that is high in sugar or salt.
Ms Jowell's decision at this stage to back a toughened code, rather than simply banning food advertising during children's TV outright, will disappoint some campaigners.
She did not rule out an outright ban, saying that if the food industry failed to work for the public interest the government had a "protective responsibility" to shield children from forces beyond their control.
Latest figures show that 8.5% of six-year-olds and 15% of 15-year-olds are obese, according to Health Check, the 2002 annual report of the chief medical officer for England.
Figures released yesterday showed that Scottish children experience some of the highest levels of obesity in the developed world, with one in five 12-year-olds meeting the clinical definition of the condition.
Ms Jowell has been reluctant to expose herself to charges of running a nanny state, but there is a growing mood in Downing Street that better preventive measures are vital to cutting health inequalities, curbing an escalating NHS budget and producing a healthier society.
The food and drink industry, anxious to protect its markets, has been vociferously lobbying against a ban, or the alternative of a tax on fatty foods. The industry blames the child obesity epidemic on unbalanced diets and lack of physical activity, but says it is willing to cooperate on clearer food packaging labelling.
A spokesperson for the Food and Drink Federation, which represents the industry, said: "There is already a strict code in existence which the food and drink industry has an exemplary record of obeying."
The spokesperson said the code was overseen by the Independent Television Commission and the Advertising Standards Authority and promoted by the Advertising Association, which represents advertisers.
Jeremy Preston, a former head of a cereal firm who is currently the director of the food advertising unit - which acts under the auspices of the Advertising Association - said there was a "real willingness in the industry to engage with the serious problem of obesity".
Ms Jowell's move is part of a wider plan to radically cut obesity in Britain over the next 15 years. The government's big conversation document last week warned: "A growing contribution to health inequalities now comes from the higher rates of smoking, poor diet and lack of physical activity among poorer people."
The document raised the prospect of a ban on the advertising of unhealthy food aimed at children.
The FSA last month published a report by Professor Gerard Hastings which concluded that advertising to children does have an effect on their food preferences, purchasing behaviour and consumption, and that these effects occur not just at brand level, but also for different types of food.
The Commons health select committee is expected to report in January on the issue, after being told last week by some of the biggest corporations, including McDonald's and Cadbury, that the obesity epidemic is not their fault.
MPs have already suggested that foods and drinks should carry indications of how much physical exercise would be needed to burn off the calories in the product, an idea that the government is likely to look favourably on.
The big supermarkets, including Tesco, will be questioned on the plan by MPs on Thursday.