This year saw many of Europe’s big food and snack companies sign an enhanced ‘pledge’ to promise not to advertise or market products to children under 12. It is easy to see the logic behind these promises. After all, ‘effective’ ads by their nature change behaviour, and the role of the industry in influencing young children is widely debated for good reason.

There is no doubt that a ban on advertising unhealthy snacks to children must be enforced. Nurturing habits detrimental to a child’s health is just plain irresponsible. We all know there is a correlation between children watching snack ads and the consumption of said snacks. However, I don’t see sense in restricting brands from engaging with children altogether. If snack manufacturers can produce healthy new ranges, these should be strongly promoted it’s a potential win-win-win for manufacturers, children and society.

A recent survey by the Children’s Food Trust revealed the majority of parents believed advertising had an effect on what their children asked for. Some 72% said they had bought fast food or other unhealthy products as a result of pestering. This clearly highlights the necessity of marketing healthy alternatives. With a fifth of kids’ income spent on food, it is the duty of brands to act responsibly.

Supermarkets should also be brought into the fold of responsible conduct. Much of their junk food is positioned at children’s eye level, prompting them to harass their parents for sweets, crisps and soft drinks. Worryingly, bad practice has spread to smaller format stores and non-food retailers, too.

Initiatives like educational card game EdStat, which recently experienced a revival, are providing brands with an outlet to bring to light the foods that supplement a healthy diet. It’s wrong that companies steeped in wellbeing characteristics like Rude Health - which participates in the EdStat scheme - may be subject to penalisation for communicating to children under 12.

Being part of a movement that improves the health of our children is a huge opportunity for brands, which absolutely cannot be missed.

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