Junk food adverts make children feel hungry and nag their parents to buy them unhealthy products, a charity has warned.
A report by Cancer Research UK found schoolchildren associated junk food with having a good time and are influenced by adverts shown during family viewing before the watershed.
For the study, researchers showed two adverts for unhealthy foods to 137 children aged eight to 12 in four primary schools in England and two in Scotland. The results suggested youngsters are heavily influenced by advertising despite rules banning junk food from being promoted during children’s TV shows.
Pupils typically watched family programmes between around 7pm and 8pm each day and also on weekends – when the adverts can be shown. Researchers said this meant there was a “loophole in the current legislation”.
TV advertising also results in children pestering their parents to buy them junk food, the report said.
Some of the children in the study described unhealthy food as ‘addictive’ while one said a TV advert for takeaway pizza made him want to ‘lick the screen’. Others loved the fact people and characters in the adverts were having a good time.
After viewing an advert for sweets, one girl said, “It makes you feel as if you’re happy and excited and it feels like you want to try it because the guy’s dancing in it because he’s eaten it and it tastes good.”
Researchers found the children had a good level of nutritional knowledge but adverts tempted them into eating unhealthy foods.
In the longer term, children remembered the adverts, bright colours and packaging, leading to the possibility they would ask for specific products in supermarkets.
Currently, around 30 percent of children in England aged two to 15 are overweight or obese, while the figure is 34 percent in Wales and 31 percent in Scotland. Cancer Research UK is among several charities calling for a ban on junk food advertising on TV before the 9pm watershed.
Dr Jyotsna Vohra, of Cancer Research UK, said the results were “worrying”.
Alison Cox, director of prevention at the charity, added, “It’s clear the restrictions already in place during children’s TV shows aren’t enough. Children are watching junk food adverts during family programmes where these restrictions don’t apply. The rise in children’s obesity is a huge concern and a growing epidemic. There must be no delay in taking action. We know that obese children are around five times more likely to be obese adults, and obese adults are more likely to develop cancer.”
World Cancer Research Fund Health Information Head Sarah Toule said, “This new report further highlights how important it is that we protect our children from junk food advertising to help ensure that they grow up to be healthy adults. After not smoking being a healthy weight is the best thing people can do to help prevent developing cancer but two thirds of UK adults are overweight or obese. In fact, it increases the risk of 11 common cancers including breast, prostate and bowel and around 25,000 cancer cases could be prevented every year in the UK if everyone was a healthy weight. We now look to our government to publish its Childhood Obesity Strategy as soon as possible and make a real difference to our children’s future.”