Posted: 1st September, 2011. Topics: children, FAU, Food, HFSS, Ofcom, TV Watershed
Hello from Credos Bites,
Today, Campaign reports on new calls from pressure groups for a 9pm watershed ban on TV ads for “unhealthy” food and drinks. This follows suggestions that restrictions introduced by Ofcom in 2006 banning HFSS advertising during and around children’s airtime have not gone far enough to “protect” children from advertising.
However, a review by Ofcom in 2010 found that since the restrictions were introduced, children have on average seen 37% fewer HFSS advertising (or 4.4bn fewer impacts). Moreover, Credos research shows that there are far more significant factors which influence a child’s eating habits than advertising. For example, when we asked 700 11-15-year-olds what most influenced what they eat, the vast majority (89%) said their mother. In fact, just 1% said advertising.
Later this year Credos will be working with the Food Advertising Unit to examine the extent to which children are seeing HFSS advertising during a normal day.
