Campaigners renew calls for 9pm watershed for junk food ads

Children's Food Campaign comment on the Foresight report 'Tackling Obesities: Future Choices':

Richard Watts, coordinator of the Children's Food Campaign said: "The Foresight report shows that the obesity health time bomb is now exploding. We need urgent action to help people, especially children, avoid the less healthy, less happy and, ultimately, shorter life that obesity leads to.  As a first step the government should end junk food television advertising before 9pm, as the first step in a longer campaign to change our food culture and create healthier diets."
 
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For more information please contact Richard Watts on 07710 782719 or on 0203 5596 777.
 

Notes to Editors:
 
1.  The Children's Food Campaign yesterday published the 'Missing the Target' pamphlet written by 10 leading obesity, health and food experts setting out a series of things the government could do to meet its targets to reduce obesity.  These include:

• Introduce a 9pm watershed for junk food advertising on television; 
  
• Introduce statutory controls to reduce children's exposure to other junk food marketing, particularly online and via mobile phones;  
  
• Make cooking a compulsory element of the national curriculum,  
  
• Vigorously support traffic light food labelling.
   
  More details are here: https://www.sustainweb.org/news.php?id=194 

2.  A 9pm watershed for junk food TV adverts would reduce children's exposure to this type of advertising by 82%. It is supported by a broad coalition of health, children's and consumer groups as well as by Ofcom's own advisory committee for England, the Office of the Children's Commissioner, and the Food Standards Agency.  A British Heart Foundation / NS poll last year found that 69% of parents supported a 9pm watershed.
 
3.  The Children's Food Campaign wants to improve children's health and well-being through better food - and food teaching - in schools, and protecting children from junk food marketing.  We are supported by over 300 organisations and 12,000 members of the public.  The Children's Food Campaign is coordinated by Sustain: the alliance for better food and
farming.