Sitting targets: New MediaWise programme aims to educate kids about dangers of advergames

Free games and apps targeting children are being used to market foods high in fat, salt and sugar, writes Margaret Jennings

THEY may seem like harmless fun: free games and apps with cheery cartoon characters, or websites and social media platforms featuring competitions and celebrity figures. But these branded digital platforms that lure your children in with emotion- and entertainment-based tactics, can be an unhealthy influence.

As if policing the labyrinthian maze of the internet for child-friendly material isn’t enough, now parents have to face the issue of insidious marketing to kids, in particular of unhealthy foods — the high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) variety that are contributing towards our climbing obesity rate.