In one BGT episode kids force-fed over four minutes of junk food adverts
Written by News on 23/10/2019
Children watching just one episode of Britain’s Got Talent saw more than four and a half minutes of adverts for unhealthy food and drinks, a study has found.
The Obesity Health Alliance (OHA) analysed ads before 9pm during six live episodes of Britain’s Got Talent over one week in May and June.
Researchers found more than one in five (23%) were for food or drink high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) including pizza, burgers, ice cream, cake and chocolate biscuits.
This rose to almost 30% in the episode shown on May 30.
Caroline Cerny, from the OHA, said: “This type of advertising is clearly linked with children going on to eat more calories than they need.
“A comprehensive 9pm watershed on unhealthy food adverts on TV and online would ensure children can enjoy their favourite programmes without being flooded by adverts for pizza, burgers and ice cream.”
Malcolm Clark, policy manager at Cancer Research UK, said: “The world we live in doesn’t make it easy to be healthy, and children are especially vulnerable to the onslaught of adverts that nudge us towards foods loaded with fat, salt and sugar.”
Professor Stephen Powis, NHS medical director, said obesity is a dangerous public health threat and that “every industry needs to take a look at what it can do to support urgent action to prevent harm and safeguard children”.
According to the OHA, a child who watched all six episodes shown during the week up to 9pm would have seen more than 22 minutes of unhealthy food and drink adverts, which it calculated could lead to them eating an extra 300 calories.
Recent research had found that seeing 4.4 minutes of food advertising was associated with children eating 60 more calories a day, while eating as little as 46 extra calories each day could lead to excess weight.
Britain’s Got Talent is regularly watched by hundreds of thousands of children, viewer figures show, but is not classed as “of particular appeal” to children under current rules, meaning restrictions on junk food advertising do not apply.
An Advertising Association spokesman said: “A significant reduction in exposure to HFSS marketing during the past 15 years has had no impact on obesity prevalence, and shows further advertising restrictions are not a solution.”
An ITV spokesman said: “Britain’s Got Talent is not commissioned as a children’s programme and the vast majority of its viewers are adults.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “A key part of our plans to halve childhood obesity by 2030 is reducing children’s exposure to sugary and fatty foods.
“We have consulted on a 9pm watershed for advertising these products on TV and online, and will set out next steps as soon as possible.”
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