British authorities last week announced They would ban internet and television advertising for so-called “junk food” from 2023 before 9 p.m. The ban targets many foods that are high in salt, fat, or sugar, including chocolate, ice cream, soda, breakfast cereals, and pizza.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s administration says the plan should tackle child obesity.
“To meet our goal of halving childhood obesity by 2030, it is imperative that we reduce children’s exposure to products that are high in fat and salt,[,] and sugar (HFSS) Advertising on television and online, “said the government in a statement last week.
This is a cynical move that will have no effect on obesity – not until 2030, not until 2040, and not even until 2525.
To say the least, no child has ever become obese after watching food advertisements – just as no adult later wrecked their car because they saw Jake from the State Farm on TV. If it were advertising providing children (or adults) with salt, fat, sugar, and various other vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and calories, then marketing would replace food as human food. That didn’t happen.
What actually happens – excuse me for saying what seems obvious but is clear? not obvious to everyone– is that parents and / or guardians 1) buy food that children eat and / or 2) give children money to buy food. Children don’t choose what to eat. Adults decide what children eat by purchasing these foods. That’s it. That’s the tweet.
Do children ask, beg, flatter and chase the adults in their lives to buy so-called junk food? Absolutely! And do some adults indulge in all the whining and talk? Naturally! But does that mean the government should step in to play the role of that child’s parent or guardian? No way! It’s up to these parents parent. Say no. To explain why certain foods are special treats and others that children can and should eat every day. To develop healthy habits that children can build upon as they become teenagers and adults.
Even if marketing bans achieved their goals – they haven’t, they haven’t, and won’t – this UK would still fail. That’s because of how politics Reports, the Great British Advertising Ban contains a number of loopholes. For one, this only applies to paid advertising – and not to the social media accounts of a food company, for example. Also excluded are small businesses, ads on radio and podcasts, and ads for so-called junk foods that do not visually show any of these junk foods. So-called “healthy foods” with a high fat, salt and / or sugar content – including honey, olive oil and avocados – are exempt from the ban. The hill Reports.
I am hardly the only critic of the UK food marketing ban. Noel Yaxley, write to The item, says The advertising ban will hurt food companies and news outlets alike if they are still trying to get out of the economic devastation caused by the pandemic and its associated restrictions.
A leading UK digital marketing spokesperson agrees.
“I could write quite a bit that takes apart the lack of evidence behind this symbolic advertising ban and how it represents a completely missed opportunity to address the causes of childhood obesity,” wrote Jon Mew in a piece to the Advertising week. “Or the fact that the ban is based on an assumption that is incorrect – that a linear relationship can be made between seconds of online HFSS ad exposure and calories burned.”
As I in a. wrote pillar At the beginning of last year on the effects of Brexit, the UK’s exit from the European Union (EU) would put the longstanding British complaints about the European nanny state to the test. With the UK out of EU rules, I wondered if it would embrace freer food markets or just choose to have its own repressive food rules. I was there last summer plaintively the fact that Johnson after recovering from a severe case from Covid-19, which in Johnson’s case was likely made worse by his obesity. (Johnson subsequently lost thanks to “early morning runs and fewer carbs, “not by restricting food marketing.)
I then wondered if Britain would become “a beacon of free trade and prosperity” after Brexit or whether it would instead “ramp up its nanny methods”. Unfortunately, I believe we have our answer.
source https://dailyhealthynews.ca/boris-johnsons-britain-leans-into-nanny-state-food-policies-reason-com/
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