JUNK FOOD OR RUBBISH PARENTS?

11-10-2006

Edward Cameron on the latest demands to keep ads for fattening foods off the telly when kids are watching. Beer and fags are alright, mind.

The consumer magazine Which? and twenty three other organisations have written to Ofcom this week demanding a 9pm watershed on the television advertising of unhealthy food to children.

Cancer Research UK, the British Heart Foundation, the National Union of Teachers, Diabetes UK and the National Family and Parenting Institute are among those who have added their signatures and given their support.

Which? research claims that four out of five voters agree that TV adverts for unhealthy food should not be shown during the times children are most likely to be watching TV.
But all this must come back to parental responsibility, surely.

Even before the watershed there are bound to be things on TV that some parents wouldn't be happy with their kids seeing.

The answer is for parents to keep an eye on their kids and when they start demanding chicken dippers instead of salmon en croute- just say ‘no'.

What's wrong with telling a child they will eat what they're given and that tantrums in the supermarket don't get results?

Responsible advertisers need to restrict false claims, such as stating that drinks are good for you because they have ‘no added sugar' when in fact they are full of e-numbers and acids.

Advertising that misleads the parents is the thing to clamp down on. Kids don't know any better, that's why we have mums, dads and schools.