Berlin – Children must be protected from advertising for foods with a high sugar, fat or salt content. This is what the alliance for child and youth health calls for, to which societies and professional associations for child and youth medicine, children’s nursing and parents’ associations have joined forces.
Thomas Fischbach, chairman of the alliance and at the same time president of the professional association of paediatricians: “The food industry advertises almost exclusively unhealthy foods that contain a lot of sugar, fat or salt and which promote obesity. Since eating habits are formed in childhood and adolescence and then to a large extent maintained in adulthood, the food industry tries to bind children to brands and products early on as tomorrow’s customers with the help of special children’s products and appropriate advertising. Data shows that marketing to children increases the risk of gaining excess weight. Voluntary commitments by industry have proven ineffective. Therefore, binding regulations are necessary.”
Children whose health is compromised by excess fat and sugar often suffer disadvantages throughout their later lives. From the point of view of the Child and Youth Health Alliance, it is a question of equal opportunities for all children to be able to grow up with healthy food, regardless of the family they come from. The draft bill from the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, which bans advertising for unhealthy food, is currently being coordinated by the departments. Under pressure from the FDP, it was severely weakened compared to an earlier version.
Jörg Dötsch, member of the board of the alliance and at the same time President of the German Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine: “Children who eat too much unhealthy food will not optimally exploit their health development, they even run the risk of becoming obese and chronically ill as a result. This has a negative impact on other areas of life. This is all the more the less the parents pay attention to a healthy diet. I am convinced that this is not in the interest of the FDP and I expect that they will readjust child protection in food advertising.”
The Alliance for Child and Youth Health is convinced that a ban on advertising unhealthy foods aimed at children will have a positive effect on the prevention of overweight, obesity and chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. An advertising ban should be part of a catalog of measures that also includes nutritional education, a sugar tax and tax breaks for healthy foods.
Andreas Oberle, member of the board of the alliance and also member of the executive committee of the German Society for Social Paediatrics: “We appeal to the federal government to ban the advertising of unhealthy food aimed at children. We believe this is a necessary step to ensure our children’s right to health. The food industry will be able to live with that. By making minor adjustments to the ingredients, many products could comply with the limits for healthier foods and thus be promoted to children again.”.