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Putting a price on health – why the Government needs to include adults in their junk food advertising analysis
By Dr Emma Boyland, Senior Lecturer, University of Liverpool That the intention of advertising is to influence an audience shouldn’t need saying. Basic market rules dictate that if advertising wasn’t effective in influencing us, then it wouldn’t exist. As an academic...
Mind the gap: why junk food marketing regulations must reflect children’s changing media habits
Ofcom recently published a comprehensive report on attitudes, understanding and media use of children aged 5-15 years. It’s a timely publication, as the Government prepares to consult on the introduction of measures to reduce children’s exposure to junk food adverts –...
The Savvy State: Government’s role in addressing our obesogenic environment
By Becca Stacey, Policy and Communications Assistant at Obesity Health Alliance We’ve all queued in a supermarket waiting to pay, and been tempted by one of the sugary products purposefully placed before us, which prior to entering the supermarket we hadn’t considered...
Out of Place – how unhealthy supermarket promotions are bad for our wallets and our waistlines
By Becca Stacey, Policy and Communications Assistant at Obesity Health Alliance We all know how easy it is to pop into the supermarket with the intention of picking up a pint of milk, but come out with a bulging bag of unplanned purchases. There is a psychology around...
Problematic promotions: the targeting of consumers with unhealthy food and drink
By Becca Stacey, Policy and Communications Assistant at Obesity Health Alliance Whether it’s buying a product to get another one free, or grabbing an unplanned purchase when waiting to pay, consumers’ decisions are constantly influenced by price and place promotions....
Weight stigma and discrimination: a public health priority
By Dr Stuart W. Flint, Senior Research Fellow in Public Health and Obesity, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK. @DrStuartFlint Weight stigma refers to “the social devaluation and denigration of people perceived to carry excess weight and leads to prejudice,...
Healthy Lives and Us – Children and Young People’s Perspectives on Tackling Obesity
By Emma Sparrow, Children and Young People’s Engagement Manager at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. Emma leads the RCPCH &Us network, which represents the voice of children, young people, parents and carers - created to actively seek and share...
Separating facts from fiction: Six truths about junk food marketing
1. Junk food adverts significantly influence children’s food choices There is wealth of strong, peer-reviewed evidence proving that the food adverts children see, influence the foods they choose and how much of it they eat. Junk food marketing in particular is linked...
“An important step towards encouraging healthy lives” – Guest blog from Chris Askew on calorie labelling
By Chris Askew, Chief Executive at Diabetes UK The UK is the sixth most overweight nation on Earth, and the most overweight nation in Western Europe. This has serious consequences for our health, as obesity is linked to a range of serious health conditions including...
Guest blog: A parent’s view of junk food marketing
By Jennifer Hird, parent of four I remember standing on the escalator in a department store when my eldest son was 3; he turned to me and asked if we were going to be buying a particular brand of bathroom cleaner. I was baffled – partly because I had no idea he knew...