Volume 195 - Issue 8
Advertising of fast food to children on Australian television: the impact of industry self-regulation
Authors: Lana Hebden, Lesley King, Anne Grunseit, Bridget Kelly and Kathy Chapman
Med J Aust 2011; 195 (8): 453. || doi: 10.5694/mja11.11114
Published online: 17 October 2011
Published online: 17 October 2011
In reply: Children’s exposure to advertising of unhealthy foods is of concern because children are exposed to a large volume of such advertisements. The World Health Organization has clearly stated that any efforts to address this issue must reduce children’s exposure to unhealthy food advertising.1 Our research article2 was based on such measures.
The viewing times applied in our research were specifically those when the highest numbers of children aged 5–12 years watch commercial television, according to Australian audience data for Sydney commercial television stations, and thus are exposed to advertising.
Craig and Annison refer to a decrease in the relative proportion of advertisements for unhealthy fast foods over the first year of the industry initiatives. However, readers should be aware that our research showed that the total amount of fast-food advertising increased over this period, so that the frequency of unhealthy fast-food advertisements that children were exposed to remained the same.
To make meaningful changes to what advertising children see, time-based restrictions would form a more responsible approach for regulation than the current industry specifications.
Competing interests
No relevant disclosures.
References
- World Health Organization. Set of recommendations on the marketing of foods and non-alcoholic beverages to children. Geneva: WHO, 2010. 0_CBBJBFFF
- Hebden LA, King L, Grunseit A, et al. Advertising of fast food to children on Australian television: the impact of industry self-regulation. Med J Aust 2011; 195: 20-24. 0_CBBGCHJI