Sep

8

Regulator denies junk food ads make kids fat - Monsters and Critics.com- Topic: Childhood Obesity News

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To howls from the social welfare lobby, the government communications regulator in August sided with the food people and refused to impose further restrictions on advertising during children’s television hours. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) concluded there was not enough evidence of a firm connection between overweight children and what they watch on the box. ACMA chairman Chris Chapman, in the first review of guidelines in 18 years, said in a statement that the ‘research does indicate that there is a relationship between advertising and children’s food and beverage preference and requests’ and that ‘it also indicates a relationship between television viewing - as distinct from television advertising specifically - and obesity in children. She said that ‘evidence to support advertising bans as a solution to childhood obesity does not stack up’ adding that ‘childhood obesity is not unique to Australia, and governments around the world that have tried to restrict advertising to children have found that it does little to solve the problem. Read Childhood Obesity

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