Government moves to tackle obesity will require food manufacturers to take an active role in encouraging balanced diets and healthy eating.
Culture secretary Tessa Jowell made this clear last week when she confirmed she expects the industry to take its responsibilities seriously.
In return, she has rejected growing demands for new legislation to impose tighter controls on food advertising.
Jowell will make a major statement on food promotion, particularly to children, in the summer, but only after receiving two reports: one from the Food Standards Agency and the other from media regulator Ofcom.
The FSA is looking at the impact of advertising on children’s eating habits while Ofcom is examining the robustness of the broadcasting code on advertising to children.
Appearing before the
Commons Health Committee’s inquiry into obesity, Jowell indicated that her thinking was focused on voluntary action being taken by the food and advertising industries.
Last month more than 100 health and consumer groups blamed ‘junk food’ advertising for the increasing incidence of child obesity and called for it to be banned.
Jowell told the committee she would only move to regulation if a voluntary approach failed. “My sense is there is a willingness in the food industry to work with us on this,” she insisted.
“If we can get the industry to emphasise the importance of healthy eating, that will be far more effective than either I or this committee could be in promoting healthy eating.”
She believed the best solution was to educate children about balanced diets and healthy ones rather than try to ban fast foods.
“I would rather see children growing up seeing that they should balance the bar of chocolate that they eat with a banana or a salad.”
The minister said she had already challenged the advertising industry to begin to promote a more positive image.
But she believed that child obesity was not due just to eating habits. It was also a result of children taking much less physical activity.
Bill Doult
Culture secretary Tessa Jowell made this clear last week when she confirmed she expects the industry to take its responsibilities seriously.
In return, she has rejected growing demands for new legislation to impose tighter controls on food advertising.
Jowell will make a major statement on food promotion, particularly to children, in the summer, but only after receiving two reports: one from the Food Standards Agency and the other from media regulator Ofcom.
The FSA is looking at the impact of advertising on children’s eating habits while Ofcom is examining the robustness of the broadcasting code on advertising to children.
Appearing before the
Commons Health Committee’s inquiry into obesity, Jowell indicated that her thinking was focused on voluntary action being taken by the food and advertising industries.
Last month more than 100 health and consumer groups blamed ‘junk food’ advertising for the increasing incidence of child obesity and called for it to be banned.
Jowell told the committee she would only move to regulation if a voluntary approach failed. “My sense is there is a willingness in the food industry to work with us on this,” she insisted.
“If we can get the industry to emphasise the importance of healthy eating, that will be far more effective than either I or this committee could be in promoting healthy eating.”
She believed the best solution was to educate children about balanced diets and healthy ones rather than try to ban fast foods.
“I would rather see children growing up seeing that they should balance the bar of chocolate that they eat with a banana or a salad.”
The minister said she had already challenged the advertising industry to begin to promote a more positive image.
But she believed that child obesity was not due just to eating habits. It was also a result of children taking much less physical activity.
Bill Doult
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