Children 'viewing fewer junk food ads'

Young children are exposed to fewer TV commercials for unhealthy food and drink products due to new rules, advertisers said today.

Young children are exposed to fewer TV commercials for unhealthy food and drink products due to new rules, advertisers in the UK said today.

The number of TV adverts for food, drink and fast-food restaurants watched by four to nine year-olds is down by more than a quarter compared to 2006, according to the British Advertising Association.

It follows new curbs on commercials for products high in fat, salt or sugar brought in by the regulator Ofcom earlier this year.

Another upcoming raft of restrictions aimed at protecting older children will bring “further considerable change”, the report says.

Consumer groups and health campaigners have called for a pre-9pm ban on commercials for unhealthy foods as part of a drive to reduce obesity in children.

But in a foreword to the Advertising Association’s report, the group’s chief executive Baroness Peta Buscombe said advertisers were acting responsibly.

“This paper shows that there have been clear and consistent falls in TV food ad spend for the last three years and that many food manufacturers have significantly re-formulated their products to reduce salt, fat or sugar content,” she said.

The volume of food, drink and fast-food restaurant adverts watched by four to 15-year-olds dropped by nearly 22% between 2003 and 2006, the report says.

That decrease was greater for children aged four to nine years at 29% compared to 2006.

But Sue Davies, chief policy advisor at consumer group Which?, today said the current advertising restrictions were still not doing enough to protect children.

“While there have been some steps in the right direction, advertisers remain free to promote unhealthy foods during the TV programmes with the highest number of child viewers and there is still very little regulation of non-broadcast marketing,” she said.

Which? is one of several groups calling for a pre-9pm ban on all TV commercials for unhealthy food and drinks.

The ban on adverts for products high in fat, salt or sugar during TV shows aimed at four to nine-year-olds came into force on April 1.

And from January 1 2008 the scheduling restrictions will be extended to TV shows aimed at children from the ages of four to 15 years – or shows of particular appeal to that age group.