Donna Castle, public affairs manager, Diabetes UK
There are 2.6 million people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK, of which 2.35 million have type 2 diabetes. The condition is serious, and if not managed well can lead to complications including heart disease, kidney failure and amputations. Type 2 diabetes is strongly linked to being overweight or obese. Studies show that obese children are more likely to become obese adults, increasing their risk of type 2 diabetes.
In recent years, we have also seen a rise of type 2 diagnoses in children—20 years ago this was almost unknown. Diabetes UK is a member of the Children's Food Campaign coalition, which wants to introduce positive measures to improve the diets of youngsters and their health.
Research has shown that young children and teenagers are influenced by television advertising and that most food ads aimed at children are for foods high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS). This affects their eating habits. TV therefore has a vital role to play in influencing children to make positive choices about diet.
iabetes UK wants action to reduce the promotion to children of HFSS foods and drinks, including a 9pm watershed. Current Ofcom rules cover only children's shows, but these are not the programmes most watched by youngsters. Research by Which? found that the most popular shows among two- to nine-year-olds are shown in the early evening. So a 9pm watershed on HFSS advertising would have a far greater effect on children.
There needs to be strengthening of non-broadcast advertising rules as TV is just one medium and children are spending more time on other digital media such as the internet, mobile phones and video games. Diabetes UK believes such measures will lead towards a healthier future for children.
Tim Lefroy, chief executive, the Advertising Association
Sometimes I wonder whether advertisers walk around with "kick me" scrawled on their backs. Kids too fat? Blame advertising. Young girls too thin? Blame advertising. Binge drinking on Friday nights? Blame advertising. We're an easy target. Who wouldn't want children to be healthier, our streets safer? And our critics are the experts, right? Well, my doctor is a health expert but I'm not sure he knows much about advertising.
And there's the rub. The health lobby's calls for marketing restrictions ignore a key point: food advertising has only a marginal impact on what children eat. The government's own Foresight report lists 10 factors influencing child obesity, from psychology and social pressures to activity levels, economic considerations and the food itself. Advertising is a footnote. But while these root causes are complicated and expensive to address, calls for bans on advertising seem enticingly quick and easy.
By chipping away at freedoms, we undermine choice, competition, growth and innovation. We damage one of our best-performing industries and put jobs at risk. And by restricting advertising, we curb a thriving, independent media, sports and entertainment events, and revenue for small businesses, not to mention advertising-funded programmes that aim to keep children active.
The Advertising Association is balancing the debate to ensure that attacks on the industry do not blind us to the root causes. It is challenging the assertion that curbs on advertising are a pain-free guaranteed win. They are not, and it's time we began to question this easy choice.
