Sydney - Hardly a week goes by without a social welfare
group appealing to the Australian government to ban junk food
advertising on children's television.
The argument is the same the world over: the obesity epidemic is
partly caused by children pestering adults to buy them the fatty
foods and fizzy drinks that they see on television.
'It's plain common sense,' says nutritionist Rosemary Stanton,
'the manufacturers wouldn't be spending millions of dollars every
year advertising to children if it didn't work.'
Really! reply the manufacturers, retailers and advertising
agencies. Prove that there is a link between childhood chubbiness and
fast food commercials, they demand.
To howls from the social welfare lobby, the government
communications regulator in August sided with the food people and
refused to impose further restrictions on advertising during
children's television hours.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) concluded
there was not enough evidence of a firm connection between overweight
children and what they watch on the box.
ACMA chairman Chris Chapman, in the first review of guidelines in
18 years, said in a statement that the 'research does indicate that
there is a relationship between advertising and children's food and
beverage preference and requests' and that 'it also indicates a
relationship between television viewing - as distinct from television
advertising specifically - and obesity in children.'
And them came the killer: 'However, existing research does not
clearly demonstrate a causal relationship between any of these
factors and obesity - and indeed only a modest association is
apparent.'
Understandably there was wailing and gnashing of teeth from the
lobby group Coalition on Food Advertising to Children (CFAC). It
would not accept Chapman's heresy.
'In spite of ACMA's claims, there is little doubt that junk food
commercials are contributing to the obesity epidemic by encouraging
pester power,' the coalition declared. 'Banning junk food commercials
from being screened when high numbers of children watch television
will make a difference.'
Kate Carnell, the chief executive of the Australian Food and
Grocery Council, welcomed ACMA's report, which was two years in the
making. She said that 'evidence to support advertising bans as a
solution to childhood obesity does not stack up' adding that
'childhood obesity is not unique to Australia, and governments around
the world that have tried to restrict advertising to children have
found that it does little to solve the problem.'
USA
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