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Junk food ad crackdown ‘flawed’ – BBC Health News
The BBC reports that the plans to ban the advertising of junk food on television before the 9pm watershed is flawed.
“A crackdown on junk food advertising to children will not be effective as the programmes most watched by children will not be covered, campaigners say.
Ads for unhealthy food are to be banned from the end of March (2007) during TV shows targeted at under-16s, Ofcom has said.”
It seems that the the only channels to be fully affected are the specialist childrens channels on digital television. Many children under the age of 16 watch television show aimed at an older audience with their families, such as chat shows such as Parkinson, and also the evening news on the ITV network. It is estimated that more children watch these channels than those that watch the channels that will have the advertising bans.
It seems that commercial interests have managed to win the day once again in the battle against obesity.
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