Heart Foundation of Australia welcomes moves to restrict food marketing to children
Heart Foundation of Australia welcomes moves to restrict food marketing to children
Obesity is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
The Protecting Children from Junk Food Advertising Bill 2011 seeks to restrict advertising of unhealthy foods during children's free-to-air television, but also subscription television, the internet and mobile phone advertising like SMS.
CEO of the National Heart Foundation and World Heart Federation board member, Dr Lyn Roberts, said there is a growing body of evidence which shows advertising unhealthy food to children influences the foods children want and eat, and has a negative impact on their overall diets.
“More and more research is showing that children are highly vulnerable to advertising because they do not understand its persuasive intent and lack the cognitive ability needed to interpret advertising.
“Obesity is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, Australia’s number one killer,” she said.