Yorkshire public backs junk food ad ban - charity

A BAN on junk food advertising before the watershed and a tax on sugary drinks are backed by the majority of the Yorkshire public, according to a leading charity.
Cancer Research wants a pre-watershed TV junk food ad banCancer Research wants a pre-watershed TV junk food ad ban
Cancer Research wants a pre-watershed TV junk food ad ban

Cancer Research UK published poll results suggesting 73 per cent of people in the region support no fast food advertising on television before 9pm with 55 per cent supportive of a sugar tax.

The Government is due to publish its strategy for tackling childhood obesity in the next few weeks and Prime Minister David Cameron has been careful not to rule out a sugar tax.

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Cancer Research highlighted figures suggesting one-in-five children are overweight when they start primary school rising to one third by the time they leave.

The charity called for action to cut obesity which has been linked to cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

Nicki Embleton, Cancer Research UK spokesperson for Yorkshire, said: “Junk food is everywhere. Children are bombarded by advertising tailored to tempt them with pretty colours and cartoons which all influence the food they prefer.

“At a time when junk food is cheap and packed with extra calories, we need stronger action to help prevent children from choosing these foods.

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“We want the Government to ban junk food adverts on TV before the 9pm watershed, put a tax on sugary drinks and enforce targets for reducing the amount of fat and sugar in food.

“Reducing obesity rates could save the NHS billions of pounds. And, ultimately, we owe it to future generations to reduce preventable disease caused by being overweight and obese.”

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt yesterday confirmed the Government was still weighing up the merits of a sugar tax as he described the levels of childhood obesity as a “national emergency”.

He said: “We have got to do something about this. I have got a one-year-old daughter, on current trends by the time she reaches adulthood a third of the population will be clinically obese. One in 10 will have Type 2 diabetes. “

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Asked whether the response would involve a sugar tax, he said: “It has to be a game-changing moment, a robust strategy. The issue here is to do what it takes to make sure that children consume less sugar, because we have got this terrible problem - we are the most obese nation in the EU and it is getting worse.”

“David Cameron has said if it isn’t a sugar tax, it needs to be something equally robust, but he hasn’t taken a sugar tax off the table. We have got parents up and down the country who want to know that they are going to be given the support they need to make sure their children eat healthily.”

Celebrity chef and sugar campaigner Jamie Oliver urged the Prime Minister to act “as a parent, not a politician”.

He added: “Please be brave and be bold and put a strategy together, put the stuff in the basket that is going to shift Britain.”

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If there was not action, he vowed to “change our strategy, get more ninja, go a bit more underground and a little bit less nice and try and I think that we need to try and get them out of power as soon as possible because child health has to be central to a healthy, prosperous economy”.

But a former adviser to the Prime Minister warned it would be a mistake for the new strategy to solely target overweight children, saying it should also address adult obesity.

The Department of Health’s proposals need to have their “incredibly influential” parents and relatives in its crosshairs as well, according to Oxford University professor Susan Jebb.

Ministers are thought to be signing off a raft of measures in the strategy, including new powers for local authorities to ban the opening of junk food outlets.

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Also said to be in the pipeline is a new watchdog with “teeth” that will name and shame food companies that do not make their products healthier.

However Prof Jebb said the new strategy had to be “comprehensive” and address adults’ behaviour as well.

A report published last year by Public Health England suggested a tax of between 10 and 20 per cent on high sugar products.

A sugar tax in Mexico has been credited with a 12 per cent fall in consumption.