Public backs TV advert ban on fatty foods to protect children

NEARLY two-thirds of people want adverts for food high in fat, sugar and salt to be banned on TV before the watershed, a poll finds today.
Thirds of people want adverts for food high in fat, sugar and salt banned on TV before the watershed.Thirds of people want adverts for food high in fat, sugar and salt banned on TV before the watershed.
Thirds of people want adverts for food high in fat, sugar and salt banned on TV before the watershed.

Nine out of 10 would also like to see better teaching in schools about how to eat healthily, the survey commissioned by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health found.

Its president Hilary Cass called on the next government to take action as the UK has the worst child mortality rate in Western Europe and the highest rate of childhood obesity. She said that focus on care for the elderly should not mean that issues surrounding children’s health should fall by the wayside.

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The survey found more than three-quarters of people said that child death rates, reducing rates of childhood cancer and ensuring consistent health service provision for children and young people across the UK were the top three child health issues that should be priorities for government.

The vast majority said children’s healthcare should be an important priority for the NHS, the same figure as for care of the elderly, while more than two-thirds supported policies to help address concerns around children’s mental health.

Six in 10 said they were in favour of reducing the national speed limit in built up areas to 20mph to attempt to reduce deaths from road traffic accidents.

Along with 64 per cent of the 2,118 people asked saying they supported the ban on advertising unhealthy food before 9pm, more than three in five said increasing the amount of money spent on research to improve children and young people’s health should be a high priority.

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Dr Cass said: “We often see policies hitting the headlines that are targeted at the ageing population – increased funding for dementia research and additional dementia training for NHS workers are among the pledges that have been made in recent weeks.

“But whilst caring for our ageing population is important, it shouldn’t mean that children’s health falls to the wayside.

“This poll shows that the voting public care as much about child health as they do care for the elderly. I call on the next government to listen to the facts and listen to the public – make child health a priority. Not only does it make strong moral sense, it makes economic and political sense too.”

Meanwhile, a separate survey today by the charity Sustrans, which campaigns for people to use alternatives to car travel in everyday journeys, reveals a third of parents in Yorkshire say their child does as little as 40 minutes or less exercise on a typical weekday – significantly below national recommendations that they should do at least an hour.

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When asked how they could increase the amount of exercise that their child took, 37 per cent of parents thought that walking, cycling, scooting and skating could be incorporated into their routines as part of the journey to school.

Sustrans regional director Paul Osborne said: “Today’s children are the least physically active in history, and set to have shorter life expectancies than their parents because of this.

“Physical activity is essential for healthy growth and development; it has been shown to improve concentration and attainment at school as well as encouraging social interaction and confidence in children.”

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