Pester Power
by author Janine Israel

Children in the United Kingdom no longer see a barrage of junk-food advertisements when they turn on the television.

As part of the UK's heightening battle against childhood obesity, a new law that currently affects TV programs aimed at four- to nine-year-olds bans the screening of ads for products considered high in fat, sugar, and salt.

British parents on the receiving end of pester power can now rest assured that advertisements for snacks such as fast-food burgers, sugary breakfast cereals and soft drinks, and even cheese have disappeared from their children's viewing smorgasbord.

Come January 1, 2008, the ban will extend to TV programs targeting or appealing to under-16-year-olds.

Media-Wide Crackdown

The British government is also considering a media-wide crackdown that would see junk-food advertisers banned from targeting under-16s in cinemas and magazines and on billboards and the Internet.

The TV advertising restrictions were instigated by the UK's Office of Communications (Ofcom, ofcom.org.uk). The Food Standards Agency (foods.gov.uk) was charged with deciding which products constitute "junk." While the likes of McDonald's and Pepsi have been blocked from advertising foods high in sugar, fat, or salt, they can still promote their brand.

Soft on Broadcasters

Mindful of broadcasters' hostility to the ban, Ofcom has given industry some leeway. Children's TV channels have been given the widest berth, with a deadline of January 1, 2009, to implement the ban on unhealthy food advertisements targeting four- to nine-year-olds.

While welcoming the ban, health experts believe Ofcom has been far too soft on broadcasters. Sue Davies of the British consumer watchdog Which? told The Guardian, "With an escalating obesity crisis we can't afford to wait another couple of years before stepping in."

Key UK health organizations such as Sustain (sustainweb.org) and the National Heart Forum (heartforum.org.uk) point to a number of loopholes that advertisers can exploit. They had lobbied Ofcom for a blanket ban on all junk-food ads shown on TV before 9 pm, arguing that soap operas and other adult programs popular with children escape the advertising restrictions.

Dr. Beckie Lang of the Association for the Study of Obesity (aso.org.uk) said advertising could play a positive role in educating children and parents about healthy eating.

"Ideally, we would like to see advertising for healthy food," she told the Western Mail. "Certainly parents…are going to be more responsive to those ads and will buy those products… But it must be done responsibly, not marketing something that isn't healthy in a healthy way."

As the issue of responsible advertising gains momentum in the UK, echoes are being heard around the Western world. The debate, it seems, no longer questions whether junk-food advertising contributes to obesity in children but centres on what we should do about it.

Read about other influences on your children's eating habits in "Dying to Be Thin: Early-Onset Eating Disorders," in the September 2007 issue of alive magazine.

Janine Israel is an Australian journalist who has fallen under the spell of many an ice-cream advertisement.

Source: alive Web Exclusive, September 2007