The UK government is to announce a ban on junk food advertising before 9 pm on TV and online from 2023 in a bid to tackle the UK’s growing obesity crisis. The online ad ban would also affect all forms of digital marketing, including Facebook, Google, Instagram and Twitter.
Boris Johnson having changed his view on personal health after his hospitalisation with coronavirus last year is said to blame his own health issues for contributing to the outcome. Overweight people are at greater risk of severe illness or death from Covid19. Research shows that one in three children leaving primary school are overweight or obese and almost two-thirds of adults in England. A government consultation last year estimated that children under 16 were exposed to fifteen billion junk food advertisements online in 2019, compared with 700 million two years earlier.
frederick anderson
June 29, 2021 at 9:58 am
Well, it might be a bit of a toothless tiger, Rita, but even tigers without teeth make me nervous! There are so many ways to get at kids these days, and so many of those are devoted to getting around the ‘watershed’ rules. Nonetheless, it’s better than no rule at all, and if we could compound it with a tax disincentive, and maybe a plain box with a health warning, the way we have for cigarettes…,
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ritaroberts
June 30, 2021 at 9:03 am
Thanks for your comment Frederick. Sounds a good idea. Hope all is well with you.Stay safe.
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Patricia Furstenberg
July 16, 2021 at 4:53 pm
Oh, a sensitive and well-thought idea, I’d say.
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