To think that banning junk food advertising won’t solve obesity?

[MyWaryUser]

People make their own choices - how much do ads really influence them and isn’t it just a scapegoat?

Of course it won’t. Changing the NHS guideline might.
no one needs five helpings of fructose a day that’s a sure way to overweight.
Polyunsaturate fats are toxic.
Fibre is not a nutrient.
neither are carbs
etc etc

There is a documentary on BBC2 now 'Irresistible, why we can't stop eating' about junk food and the food industry, it's also on iPlayer so I will watch it tomorrow, it looks quite interesting

My understanding is that obesity has already overtaken smoking as a cause of death in the UK. That's partly due to rocketing obesity, and partly due to major falls in smoking rates. Sadly both obesity and smoking strongly link to socioeconomic deprivation, so the health gap between high & low income groups is only going to get wider.
I fully support banning the advertising of high calorie foods, and we really need to reform food taxes so low calorie fresh food is discounted and high calorie foods taxed to pay for it.

I mean... obviously people are influenced by advertising to a certain extent, or companies wouldn't spend such a lot of money on it! Having said that, I agree it will make little difference though. Advertising might persuade you to choose one brand of crisps over another, but you wouldn't stop buying crisps just because there weren't any adverts for them any more! It's not like they'd become invisible in the supermarket .

I think it should not be something in isolation.

Nobody makes decisions in a vacuum.

I agree with those saying it's a drop in the bucket but it should still be done, obesity is an extremely complex issue and can't be solved by one small change.

I used to think the same about these initiatives, sugar tax etc, but since going down the UPF rabbit hole the main conclusion I have come to is there that MUST be regulation from government. We're not making free choices, we are being manipulated on a daily basis from the day we are born by a greedy beast of a machine that dominates our planet. It is the scandal of our time, but not yet fully exposed. Lots of people in denial, and lots of money involved to try to keep the lid on for as long as they can.

You are right it won't.

I think the issue is the number of takeaways, pizza and foods very high in saturated fats which are dirt cheap to buy, being available nearly everywhere in the uk.

Very well known fast food establishments which pay taxes may be another reason why they have not been limited or reduced.

Personal choice is always important and these fast food outlets would soon close down not long after people stop buying from them as we all have a choice.

Some people don't know how to cook so their kids don't learn and the cycle continues.

@Easypeelersareterrible that is very draconian 😬 really?

i think advertising to kids should not be allowed

but otherwise people are free to eat what they like, lots of people are happy to be overweight and see no problem, they do not owe us to be thin

Get rid of adverts and people will still buy junk food, but maybe a bit less, so I have no problem seeing the back of them.

but otherwise people are free to eat what they like, lots of people are happy to be overweight and see no problem, they do not owe us to be thin

This is very simplistic, if everyone was fully informed and completely aware you could perhaps argue that, but ask yourself why there is such a correlation between lower socioeconomic status and health. To ignore the problem is to let people die. Do you think smoking, drinking and drugs should be completely unregulated? Even if you don't care about moral and ethical dilemma, we have to face the economic issue when we provide universal healthcare.

Yep. I’m fat and I cook just about everything from scratch. Never eat McDonald’s or the like. Don’t watch commercial tv. Still fat.

Then why are most of the citizens in the US crazy obese?

What do you eat

Yep. I’m fat and I cook just about everything from scratch. Never eat McDonald’s or the like. Don’t watch commercial tv. Still fat.

So ignore all the research, @TheDowagerCountessofPembroke doesn't eat McDonald's or watch adverts but is still overweight, let's give the policy team a call in the morning to let them know, I'm sure they'll be relieved at all the work you've just saved them.

All I’m saying is that it’s possible to be overweight but not to be sat there shovelling in McDonald’s and KFC all day long.

It will help. Adverts increase sales for products. They influence buying behaviours. Why else would manufacturers spend so much money on them?

God, I’ve ended up at McDonalds loads of times after seeing the ads on bus stops so it would definitely help me!

@TheDowagerCountessofPembroke I'm sure, but it's also possible (as has been discovered in a lot of research) to be heavily influenced by marketing from a young age creating poor eating habits and perceptions of food, with and without regular eating at fast food chains.

One in eight US citizens are now on weight loss jabs.
I'm sure we'll catch up with them, right now the UK is UPF central.

I have just watched the bbc2 documentary - it is amazing how much work and money the food industry puts into pushing ultra processed foods and the links with the methods used by the tobacco companies insisting it is not addictive.
UPF's are set to be the biggest cause of premature death in the next few years.

Either:

1. It will reduce junk food consumption

Or

1. It won't help and junk food companies won't be hit

The market share thing is true, but irrelevant here. If all of them are banned from advertising it affects them all, so is not unfair.

So... what's the argument for NOT doing it?

When I was doing GCSE food tech my mum couldn't believe how little actual cooking they taught and showed me her Home Economics notebook that she had from her school days.

In comparison I spent a couple of terms designing packaging, including vacuum moulding, and nutritional content labels for the sandwich i was developing as a product, using shop bought bread. Her end of year assessment involved planning out the timings and recipes for a healthy 3 course meal, which she then had to cook and present at lunch time on a fully set table with a freshly washed and ironed tablecloth done while the food was cooking.

I would just ban supermarkets from selling junk food. That would be far more effective.

As has been said upthread, advertising doesn't make people want to buy junk food instead of something healthy. It just builds brand loyalty, awareness and can be used to promote new products, special offers etc..

People eat junk food because it's some combination of easier / quicker / tastier than healthy food. Not because they've been advertised to or don't realise it's unhealthy.

I do think the comparison to smoking is interesting, as as the rate of smoking has gone down the rate of obesity has gone up. But we all need to eat something, whilst no one needs to smoke anything. And often we want to eat the easiest / quickest / tastiest thing.