“Marketing is driving this and people in Scotland understand that, with nearly four in five adults supporting restrictions on junk food advertising during the hours when children are most likely to see this type of promotion”.
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Researchers from Cancer Research UK visited six schools in that country.
Researchers from the charity spoke to kids aged between eight to 12 across the United Kingdom and asked them to watch videos advertising junk food.
Sarah Toule, Head of Health Information at World Cancer Research Fund, 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.
TV advertising also results in children pestering their parents that can lead to the purchase of junk food, the report said.
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Among the comments that emerged from the discussions was the Year 6 boy from Northamptonshire who said: “You might be eating a piece of fruit, you might see the advert, and you might just throw it in the bin and ask your mum for money and leg it to the shop”.
A girl in primary 5 from North Lanarkshire, after watching a TV commercial for candies, 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”.
Alison Cox, director of prevention at Cancer Research UK, said: “It’s clear the restrictions already in place during children’s TV shows aren’t enough”.
She added that a recent poll showed that 76 per cent of people in the East Midlands back a ban on advertising junk food on TV before 9pm and it is hoped more get on board in supporting the campaign and “help to remove this damaging influence from children’s lives”.
” class=”local_link” > family programmes where these restrictions don’t apply”.
They also reported children saying the adverts made them hungry and wanting to eat junk food.
“The rise in children’s obesity is a huge concern and a growing epidemic”. There must be no delay in taking action.
Due to their findings, researchers hypothesize that younger children are more susceptible to unhealthy food and beverages commercial because children may associate the marketed products with the positive features of the commercial, which in turn makes them to subsequently imitate what they saw.
Over a fifth of kids in England are overweight or obese before they start primary school, which shoots up to a third by the time they leave.
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‘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’.
