75% of Irish parents support ban on advertising of unhealthy foods to children up to 9pm 

The Irish Heart Foundation, the National Youth Council of Ireland and the Children's Rights Alliance commissioned a survey with Red C to capture the feelings of Irish parents on the advertising of less healthy foods to children. 3 in 5 parents were not aware that the BAI are currently undertaking a consultation on this issue, making it of utmost importance to capture their views

Click here to read the full Red C report

Click here for the press release on the report

Give your children a voice

The Irish Heart Foundation is calling on the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) to ban the advertising of unhealthy foods to children from 6am to 9pm.

Support this call for action.Make your own submission to the BAI today.

Simply download a template letter here

Or scroll down the page to find a version you can copy and paste into your own document.

Email or post your submission to;

Sinéad Owens
Children’s Code Consultation
Broadcasting Authority of Ireland
2-5 Warrington Place
Dublin 2
sowens@bai.ie

Closing date for submissions is Friday, October 14th 2011

Why you should support a 6am – 9pm ban:

• 1-4 primary school children and 1 in 5 teenagers aged 12 -17 years are overweight or obese.
• Overweight and obesity are themselves risk factors for cardiovascular disease - the leading cause of death in Ireland among all ages and accounting for about 2,000 premature deaths.
• Irish children and young people are showing early signs of other risk factors such as increasing levels of blood pressure, cholesterol and higher blood sugar/insulin levels, leading to Type 2 diabetes. • Overall the diet of Irish children is high in fat, sugar and salt.
• Most of the foods advertised to children are high in fat, sugar and salt, contrasting sharply with the recommended diet.
• There is robust and compelling evidence which links the marketing of food HFSS to children and specifically television advertising to poor diets and obesity.

Why your submission counts:

The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) is the body responsible for the regulation of broadcasting in Ireland. The BAI is currently reviewing the Children’s Commercial Communications Code – the code that regulates television advertising to children - and is seeking submissions from parents, the general public and organisations to gather their views on how the promotion of foods high in fat, sugar or salt (HFSS) should be regulated, particularly to children.

The Code has a duty of care to protect children, particularly with regards to public health. The Irish Heart Foundation has long called for a review of the television advertising of unhealthy foods to children. There is significant scientific evidence and expert advice on the impact of food marketing on children’s diet and health. In light of this the Irish Heart Foundation is calling for a ban on the advertising of unhealthy foods to children from 6am until 9pm.

The Irish Heart Foundation has prepared a draft template letter which answers questions asked by the BAI in their consultation document. Please support this cause by using this template to create and submit your own response to the BAI no later than Friday, October 14th 2011.

Click here to download the BAI consultation document

SUBMISSION TEMPLATE

If you would like to send in a submission to the BAI, you can use the full template below or simply the first paragraph.

 I (Insert Name), would like to endorse the Irish Heart Foundation position on the Children’s Commercial Communications Code and call for a restriction on all advertising of food high in fat, sugar and salt, as defined by the Nutrient Profiling Model, from 6:00am to 9:00pm. I believe this is a necessary and proportionate measure to protect children from exposure to advertising of unhealthy foods and the damaging effects this has on their dietary health and wellbeing.

My response to the questions in the consultation document is as follows:

• The BAI should fully and unequivocally accept the five recommendations of the Expert Working Group.

• The Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM) has been reviewed for effectiveness in relation to food advertising and used successfully in the UK. The BAI should fully adopt the NPM of the Food Standards Agency.

• The Co-regulation approach has worked well in the UK with the advertiser/manufacturer taking responsibility for the certification of products but with a statutory oversight and enforcement of the restrictions

• I support the Irish Heart Foundation position which calls for restrictions on advertising for all HFSS foods, as defined by the NP model, from 6am to 9pm. My reasons are those laid out in the Irish Heart Foundation’s submission. The only suitable measure is restrictions based on time bands.

Sincerely, (Insert Signature)
_________________________
(Insert Printed Name)

Areas on which the BAI is gathering views – questions can be found on page 34 of the consultation document:

• Expert Working Group Report – The BAI convened an expert working group to examine issues pertaining to the health and nutrition of children in Ireland and to make recommendations on the Children’s Commercial Communications code. The recommendations can be found on page 24 of the consultation document. The Irish Heart Foundation endorses all five recommendations fully and completely.

• Nutrient Profiling Model – The UK Food Standards Agency has developed a model that differentiates foods and beverages on the basis of their nutritional composition, categorizing them as healthy or less healthy (See 4.1 page 24 of the BAI Consultation document). This has been used successfully in the UK to place advertising restrictions on certain products. (See page 25 of the Consultation document). The Irish Heart Foundation and National Heart Alliance fully endorse this model as an appropriate, specific and scientifically rigorous tool and calls for its full implementation by the BAI in Ireland.

• Regulatory Options – The BAI is evaluating whether the code should be enforced by the government (statutory) or by the industry or by some combination of both. The BAI is also evaluating whether restrictions should come in the form of time based restrictions, children’s programming restrictions, content restrictions and several other measures. Details on the regulatory options and measures can be found on page 29 of the consultation document. The Irish Heart Foundation calls for an outright ban on advertising of foods high in energy, saturated fat, sugar and salt (as determined by the Nutrient Profiling Model) between the hours of 6am and 9pm. This should be implemented as a statutory regulation, overseen by the BAI.

Marketing of Food and Beverages to Children - Policy and Position

Stakeholder views on policy options in Ireland.  Summary Findings from the PolMark project.

Full PolMark report for Ireland.


The Irish Heart Foundation  National Heart Alliance have adopted a position on the marketing of unhealthy foods to children.

Key recommendations of the Children’s Food Campaign:

• The Children’s Advertising Code should restrict advertising of energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods high in fat, sugar and salt, as defined by nutrient profiling between the hours of 06:00 and 21:00.
  
• Parents, carers and guardians need support from the Department of Health and Children, the Health Service Executive (HSE), and the Department of Education and Science, as well as other statutory and voluntary bodies on the identification of health risk and guidance for implementing healthy dietary patterns in the home.
  
• The school environment is a pivotal setting for the promotion of healthy living, physical activity and healthy weight, which needs to be guided by a healthy food policy.
  
• The healthcare environment needs to be guided by a food and nutrition policy.
  
• The retail sector should develop and implement a code of practice to control placement of unhealthy foods at toddler and child level and at checkouts.
  
• Manufacturers should reformulate products high in fat, sugar and salt, especially those aimed specifically at children.
  
• Government Departments and agencies and the new Broadcasting Authority of Ireland should monitor the nature and extent of food marketing to children, with particular reference to the emerging technologies of the Internet and text messaging.
  

Click here to view the Children's Food Campaign Website

NHA and Irish Heart Foundation. Children's Food Campaign - Protecting Children from Unhealthy Food Marketing. May 2008