Bailey Review a missed opportunity, says Children's Food Campaign

Responding to the publication of the Bailey Review of the Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Childhood, Children’s Food Campaign Coordinator Christine Haigh said:

“While we welcome some of the recommendations of the report, such as prohibiting the use of children in peer-to-peer marketing, the review is a missed opportunity to tackle the incessant junk food marketing that children are exposed to, which is contributing to record levels of childhood obesity in the UK. Children are bombarded by messages encouraging them to eat the types of foods that contribute to ill health in later life.”

She continued:

“With a focus on the much-needed action required to tackle the sexualisation of children, other forms of commercialisation have been neglected, including junk food marketing that has proven negative effects on children’s food choices, diets, and health. This review is meant to have taken into account the views of parents, who said that they wanted the barriers that stop them from being good parents to be removed. Research by the British Heart Foundation shows that over two-thirds of parents favour a 9pm watershed for junk food marketing, with only seven per cent opposed.”

The Children’s Food Campaign made a submission to the Call for Evidence for the Bailey Review. However, no mention of controlling junk food marketing to children – or the group’s submission - is made in the Bailey Review final report.

ENDS

For further information and interviews, please contact Christine Haigh on 0203 5596 777 or 07870 577934 or christine@sustainweb.org.

 

Notes to editors  

1)      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 150 national organisations. The Children's Food Campaign is coordinated by Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming and funded by the British Heart Foundation. For more information, see www.childrensfood.org.uk. 

2)      Letting children be children, the report of an independent review of the commercialization and sexualisation of children by Reg Bailey, was published on 6 June and is available at http://www.education.gov.uk/a0077662/bailey-review-of-the-commercialisation-and-sexualisation-of-childhood-final-report-published.

3)      Information about parents’ support for protection for children from junk food marketing, including the British Heart Foundation’s survey, is available at https://www.sustainweb.org/childrensfoodcampaign/junk_food_marketing/.