Unhealthy diet of TV adverts is linked to obesity

Harry Way surrounded by 500 packets of crisps, biscuits and fizzy drinks, as a report says that teenagers who watch lots of TV with adverts are more likely to eat junk food, suggesting a "strong association between advertisements and eating habits."

Cancer Research UK warned that being bombarded by TV adverts for unhealthy, high-calorie food could lead youngsters to eat more than 500 extra snacks such as crisps, biscuits and fizzy drinks throughout the course of a year.

It said that when adverts were not factored in, no link could be found between screen time and the likelihood of consuming additional junk food, suggesting that commercial TV may be driving youngsters to snack on unhealthier food.

The charity said the findings pointed to a “strong association between advertisements and eating habits”, and called for the advertising of unhealthy food in the commercial breaks around football matches and talent shows to be regulated .

A regular diet of food and drink that is high in calories, with correspondingly high levels of fat and sugar, has been found to increase the risk of becoming overweight.

More than one in three British teenagers are overweight or obese, with obesity the second biggest preventable cause of cancer in the UK after smoking, and linked to bowel, breast, pancreatic and 10 other forms of cancer.

Dr Jyotsna Vohra, lead author of the report, said: “This is the strongest evidence yet that junk food adverts could increase how much teens choose to eat.

“We’re not claiming that every teenager who watches commercial TV will gorge on junk food, but this research suggests there is a strong association between advertisements and eating habits.”

Dr Vohra added that the 10 years that had passed since the regulator Ofcom introduced its first regulations on food marketing on TV had rendered them “seriously out of date”.

He said: “Ofcom must stop junk food adverts being shown during programmes that are popular with young people, such as talent shows and football matches, where there’s currently no regulation.

“Our report suggests that reducing junk food TV marketing could help to halt the obesity crisis.”

The Obesity Health Alliance, a consortium of 40 health and nutrition organisations, called last month for a 9pm watershed to protect children from junk food marketing, after observing that more than half of food and drinks adverts shown during popular family TV shows were for products high in fat, sugar and salt, which would be banned from children’s TV channels.

In one case, researchers observed nine junk food adverts in the space of 30 minutes.

The Alliance has said: “Failing to tackle obesity means failing our children, and if today’s figures tell us anything, it’s that there’s a long way to go before the battle is won.”

Prof Linda Bauld, Cancer Research UK’s prevention expert, said: “Obese children are five times more likely to remain obese as adults, which can increase their risk of cancer later in life.

“The food industry will continue to push their products into the minds of teens if they’re allowed to do so.

“The Government needs to work with Ofcom to protect the health of the next generation.”

The UK has the highest obesity rate in Western Europe, with experts citing deprived backgrounds as the most likely influencing factor.

The Obesity Health Alliance wants an early-evening blanket ban on both broadcast and online advertising of unhealthy food before 9pm. Current regulations, introduced in 2007, cover only programmes made for children or those “of particular appeal to children under 16”.

Celebrities and “licenced characters” are also banned from advertising unhealthy food targeted at young children.

The Government has proposed a levy on sugary soft drinks to help tackle the problem.