Right: A range of healthy foods; It is claimed that parental control of children's eating habits is undermined by fast food advertising. Arguments in favour of the government imposing restrictions on fast food advertising1. Childhood obesity is a major problem in AustraliaChildhood obesity is a major health issue in Australia. The Coalition on Food Advertising to Children has claimed, 'The prevalence of children who are overweight or obese in Australia is now amongst the highest in the world and is rapidly increasing.1 From 1985 to 1995, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Australian children virtually doubled, from about 10% to about 20%.1 Currently, the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity is estimated to be 25-30%. This rate of increase amounts to approximately 40 000 more children each year becoming overweight or obese.' Looking specifically at obesity and considering the most recent figures for children, it appears that nearly 8 per cent of children in Australia are obese, up from 5 per cent in 1995. Among adults, recent data shows 68 per cent of men and 55 per cent of women are obese or overweight. Access Economics calculated that the cost of obesity in 2008 reached $58.2 billion. The Coalition on Food Advertising to Children has detailed a range of health and social problems which it claims are associated with being overweight or obese. Psycho-social problems associated with weight issues are said to include social isolation and discrimination, poor self-esteem and depression, learning difficulties, and longer term poorer social and economic outcomes.1 Physical and medical risks in childhood are said to include orthopedic problems (back pain, flat feet, slipped growth plates in hips, knock knees), fatty liver, type 2 diabetes, menstrual problems, asthma and obstructive sleep apnea. Long-term disease risks in adulthood are said to include type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, hypertension, some types of cancer, musculoskeletal disorders and gall bladder disease. Reduced life expectancy and increased mortality in later life may make this the first generation to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. 2. Self-regulation of fast food advertising is not working The Obesity Policy Coalition, which includes Vocally and Cancer Council Victoria, has stated that self-regulation of fast food advertising has failed over many years. The Australian Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance, which includes health groups concerned with diabetes, kidney disease and stroke, has adopted the same position. The Alliance chairman Professor Ian Olver has stated, '.I would have liked to see a stronger stance on restricting advertising of unhealthy foods to kids that recognises the limitations of industry self-regulation.' Jane Martin, a senior policy adviser for the Alliance, has stated, 'If any inroads are to be made in the area of obesity, government needs to start making some tough policy decisions and stop sitting on its hands. This is a feather-duster approach to prevention, touching several things lightly but not disturbing the status quo and the real drivers of obesity.' Ms Martin added, 'We have had self-regulation for decades while Australians' waistlines continue to expand. Our children should be protected from the unfettered bombardment of junk food advertising in their everyday life.' South Australia's Flinders University Nutrition Department spokeswoman Kay Mehta, says children are especially susceptible to advertising and should be protected. Ms Metha has stated, 'It is the government's role to protect the health and well-being of the communities they are elected to serve, and to protect the interests of the vulnerable. Really children are vulnerable to advertising.' A similar point has been made by the Coalition on Food Advertising to Children. The Coalition claims, 'Children are a na‹ve and vulnerable audience, who do not fully comprehend the purpose of advertising and marketing. Society has a responsibility to protect children from undue commercial influences.' 3. Parents need support to help regulate their children's eating habits It has been claimed that the nature and extent of fast food advertising makes it very difficult for parents to regulate their children's consumption of these products. The Coalition on Food Advertising to Children notes, 'Advertising increases children's requests for advertised products ('Pester Power') and undermines parents' attempts to provide a healthy diet for their children.' The Coalition also notes, 'The causes and solutions of childhood obesity are multi-factorial. The overwhelming weight of the evidence suggests strong causal links between food promotions and children's food preferences, household purchases, and children's food consumption patterns.' The Coalition further notes, 'Children 4 to 12 years old are conservatively estimated to directly influence $94.9 billion on parental food and beverage purchases in the US, and spend the greatest proportion of their own income ($3.19 billion) on food and beverages. In Australia, 73% of 5 to 12 year olds influence the purchase of household grocery items.' The consumer lobby group, Choice, has claimed that government regulation of fast food advertisements directed at children is necessary if parents are to be able to properly control their children's eating habits. Choice also claims that a number of surveys conducted by the lobby group indicate that parents are seeking this level of support from governments. Choice makes the following claims on its Internet site, 'Ultimately, parents are responsible for what children eat at home and what they send to school in their lunchboxes. Parents are also responsible for ensuring that kids have a healthy start to life by helping them to develop good eating habits. But food marketing makes parents' jobs that much harder by tempting children with salty, fatty or sugary foods which they inevitably pester their parents to buy. In 2006, a Choice-commissioned Newspoll survey showed that 89% of respondents were in favour of restricting advertising of unhealthy foods during TV programs that are popular with children. In 2008, our Newspoll survey found that 88% of parents think that junk food marketing undermines their efforts to encourage their children to eat healthy.' On June 8, 2009, a survey was released of 800 Australian parents. The survey, conducted by the Cancer Council found 91 per cent were sick of the tactics used by food marketers and want better regulation. More than half want the Government to bring in a total ban on such advertising. 4. The fast food industry is seeking to avoid external regulation It has been claimed that the fast food industry is specifically opposed to the regulation of its advertisements because children represent a lucrative portion of its market and one in which they have invested enormous amounts of advertising revenue. The Coalition on Food Advertising to Children notes, 'Children and youth represent a primary focus of food and beverage marketing initiatives. Food companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars on marketing and advertising, in order to maintain and increase market share. In recent decades there has been a marked increase in spending on food marketing. For example, McDonalds expenditure on media advertising in Australia increased from $6 million in 1983-84 to $50-55 million in 2005.' In Australia, nutritionists and public health officials have described a pledge by fast-food companies to market only healthier products to children as deceptive and as an attempt by these companies to avoid government regulation. Nutritionist Rosemary Stanton said the "holes in this 'new' code were big enough to drive a truck through". She pointed to the fact that the code would not cover sports sponsorship outside the school setting, and the fact that it applied only to children's programs. The new rules would not prevent marketing junk food in programs popular with children such as Home and Away and The Simpsons, as long as the advertisement did not appeal directly to children. 5. The fast food industry is specifically targeting children Critics of the fast food industry and its capacity for self regulation note that the industry specifically targets children. They claim both that the industry promotes its products using child-specific incentives like toys. They also claim that the industry concentrates its television commercials during children's peak viewing periods. The Obesity Policy Coalition, which includes VicHealth, Cancer Council Victoria and Diabetes Australia, opposes the persuasive marketing tactics that it claims the fast food industry is using to encourage children to eat their products. The Coalition is proposing that any food product which does not meet government -approved nutrition standards should not be marketed to children using free toys, competitions or celebrity-endorsed promotions. Jane Martin, the Obesity Coalition's senior policy adviser has stated, 'We need to produce a level playing field where all those who produce junk food are not allowed to market to kids in this way. It is all very well to talk about trying to increase physical activity in schools, but we really have to look at other ways that are creating demand for foods for children which are not healthy to be eating.' The consumer lobby group, Choice, makes a number of claims on its Internet page, set up as part of a campaign to have the advertising of fast foods to children regulated. Choice is concerned at the manner in which fast foods seek to link their product to items of high interest to children. The lobby group notes, 'Supermarket shelves carry a range of products featuring kids' favourite characters like Nemo, Bratz and Barbie. At the movies, in magazines or online - games, toys, celebrities and popular cartoon characters are used to promote an array of sugary and high-fat snacks. On the sporting field, sponsorship deals mean the logos of fast-food companies are emblazoned on children's chests as they sprint towards the finish line. Other common marketing techniques include: Competitions to win a holiday, bike or MP3 player; collecting product tokens to redeem a prize; fast food meal deals where you need to visit the outlet every week to collect the entire set of toys; the use of children's cartoon characters, media personalities and sporting heroes to promote foods to kids; sponsorship of school sports; the use of junk foods in fund-raising.' Choice is also concerned about the manner in which fast food companies saturate prime children television viewing time slots with their commercials. The lobby group claims, ' Current regulation does not protect children from being bombarded with ads for junk food. Around 54% of TV food ads aired between 6am and 9pm are for unhealthy foods. The volume of unhealthy food ads increases when children are most likely to be viewing - early evening and Saturday mornings. As the Coalition on Food Advertising to Children reports: One in three television advertisements during children's viewing times in Australia are for food. Of those, studies repeatedly find that between 55 - 81 % are for foods high in fat and/or high in sugar. For example, in May 2007 the NSW Centre for Overweight and Obesity found there were 10 ads per hour for high fat and /or sugary foods during peak children's viewing times on Sydney commercial television, up from nine per hour in 2006.' |