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No ban on food advertising to children

28 August 2008

There will be little change to the regulations covering food and beverage television advertising to children, under new draft standards released by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

The guidelines recommend that current advertising restrictions be maintained and strengthened in some areas but no general restrictions should be imposed in relation to food and beverage advertising.

Health and community groups had been lobbying for bans and tighter controls on food advertising to children.

“Given current community concern, the issue of food and beverage advertising to children and its potential impact on childhood obesity was a core component of the review of the Children’s Television Standards,” said Chris Chapman, ACMA Chairman.

However, at this stage he said ACMA was not proposing to introduce general restrictions on food and beverage advertising to children.

Mr Chapman said ACMA was not a health advisory body and because childhood obesity was such a complex issue, the Authority had commissioned an independent review of research on the issue.
“The review found there was not a sufficient consensus on the impact of banning food and beverage advertising on obesity levels,” Mr Chapman said.

The Authority said the research indicated there was a relationship between advertising and children’s food and beverage preferences and requests, as well as a relationship between television viewing (as distinct from television advertising specifically) and obesity in children.

“However, existing research does not clearly demonstrate a causal relationship between any of these factors and obesity — indeed only a modest association is apparent.”

“ACMA has formed the view that restricting food and beverage advertising, particularly without a tool to identify high fat, salt, sugar (HFSS) products, would be a blunt form of regulatory intervention, with significant cost to the commercial television sector and uncertain national benefits. Such restrictions would also prevent healthy food and beverage products from being advertised.”

ACMA said it would consider reviewing its position if evidence of an identifiably stronger association between advertising and obesity and the benefits of food and beverage advertising restrictions becomes available and a food identification standard was successfully introduced in Australia.