Limit commercials of unhealthy foods to children

Ban Junk Food Ads!

Hungarian NGOs issued a joint declaration to limit commercials of unhealthy foods to children. They call for a general banning of unhealthy food advertisements until 9 PM Hungarian National Heart Foundation firmly believes that we should follow the example of the UK, where strong limitations on junk food ads are already effective

The Hungarian National Heart Foundation, the TESZ Foundation, the National Association for Consumer Protection in Hungary, the National Network of Healthier Kindergartens, the József Fodor Society of School Health, the Pápai Pariz National Association of Health Promotion, the National Institute for Child Health and the National Foundation of Diabetics recommend that unhealthy foods and drinks are defined according to nutrient profiles agreed upon at EU level. To ensure a comprehensive protection of children, the signatories also recommend that audiovisual commercial communications for foods and drinks that do not respect specific nutrient profiles may not be broadcast between 06:00 am and 09:00 pm. >>>declaration>>>

Obesity
Overweight and obesity are one of the most important concerns related to health in the 21st century. According to World Health Organization overweight and obesity are the second most importnat preventable risk factors after smoking. The proportion of overweight and obese people double in every five year in developed countries. The prevalence of heart disease in overweight people is double, in obese persons triple to that of those with a normal weight.

How much you can eat healthily? Keep the balance of intake and exercise. Everybody has a different calorie requirement, depending on age, sex and physical activity. Check your number of recommended energy intake according to different activity levels and age.

In Hungary 37% of the adult population is overweight and 23 % is obese. Moreover, the proportion of overweight children and adolescents has been rising during the past years. The cause of obesity is mostly unhealthy life style and nutrition. Besides sedentary lifestyles excessive intake of foods with high sugar, salt and fat content also lead to obesity.

THE MARKETING OF UNHEALHTY FOOD TO CHILDREN IN EUROPE

The Hungarian Heart Foundation has participated in the project "Children, obesity and associated avoidable chronic diseases" , led by the European Heart Network, that involved national heart foundations in 20 different European countries.

Most important findings of the project report:

Most of the food marketed to children is regarded as "unhealthy" food.
Schools and the Internet represent a growing marketing channel for food advertisers in most European countries.
Most countries have an incoherent patchwork of legal and voluntary controls on broadcast and non-broadcast advertising, and on marketing in schools.

ARGUMENTS ARE STILL WELCOME
The Hungarian National Heart Foundation has initiated a dialogue with organisations of the advertisement industry in autumn 2006. The Board of Advertisement Self-Regulation and the Hungarian Advertising Association welcome the initiative as a step toward a mutually acceptable solution. We provide a space for the responses of the two organisations here. We are only sorry these reactions are yet to arrive.

We shall gladly react to incoming responses.

Obesity and commercials
Majority of commercials broadcast to children promote "unhealthy" foods and drinks, ie. products with high content of fat, sugar or salt and low in essential minerals. In the European Union the majority of TV advertisements for food aimed at children were for unhealthy foods, ranged from 49 % in Italy, to nearly 100 % in Denmark and UK.

An international study taken in Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia observed alarming facts about TV commercials. Most of commercials broadcast were in contradiction to current nutrition guidelines. Sugar, salt and fat content in promoted foods were very high

Nutrient profiles
Nutrient profiles provide information to consumers on contents and ratio of sugar, salt, saturated fat, trans fat and other nutrients in foods. Different nutrient profiles apply for different food categories, ie. soft drinks, meat products, bakery products, etc. It is the responsibility of the European Comission to establish nutrient profiles.

Children and obesity: a pan-European project examining the role of food marketing - European Journal of Public Health reported about our project. Read the summary of the pan-European program "Children, obesity and associated avoidable chronic diseases".

© MNSZA
2008-03-18 | Refreshed: 2009-12-08 11:05