Further calls for all children to be protected from junk food marketing
29/06/2009

The Children's Food Campaign is leading calls by children's groups for all children to be protected from junk food marketing

The Children's Food Campaign was last week among a group of organisations representing the rights of all UK children to be protected from junk food marketing. We were joined by Children's Food Campaign supporters The Children's Society, NCB, Alliance for Childhood, Child Growth Foundation and British Association for Community Child Health. Our letter to advertising regulators, the Committee on Advertising Practice (CAP), called for consistency in the standards which help to protect children from junk food marketing.

At the moment, rules enforced by government regulator protect all children up to the age of 16 from junk food advertising during children's television programming. But the voluntary standards covering other forms of marketing, including posters, cinemas and the internet, contain a loophole which means that some of the clauses only apply to children under the age of 12.

The Children's Food Campaign would like to see stronger rules to protect children from junk food marketing through any media, and the letter called on CAP to remove this loophole so that children are better protected by the existing voluntary code.

To read about how this could be done, see our Protecting Children report, available at http://www.sustainweb.org/childrensfoodcampaign/publications

More evidence to support our campaign to protect children from junk food marketing

Over the past few weeks we've seen several new reports which support our calls for children to be better protected from junk food marketing.

Last month, researchers at the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention, at Deakin University in Victoria, Australia published new research. It showed that over-eating, rather than lack of exercise, is almost entirely to blame for rising obesity levels in rich countries. The story was covered in The Times, quoting Sustain, the organisation that coordinates the Children's Food Campaign, and can be read at

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6250968.ece

On 22 June, the BBC reported that 40% of five-year-olds in the UK have tooth decay, indicating the extent of over consumption of sugar in young children. You can read the story at

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8112603.stm

And a new report from the School Food Trust has found that, while pupils studying for exams are likely to turn to unhealthy foods such as chocolate, biscuits and fizzy drinks, a healthy diet has a direct and positive impact on pupils' ability to study. Full details are available at

http://www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk/news_item.asp?NewsId=180

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