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Cancer Council launches junk food ad guide

(For those misdirected from the Mumbrella email looking for The Hoopla story you can find it here)

The Cancer Council has launched a website accusing marketers of “spending hundreds of millions of dollars each year blitzing children with junk food marketing”.

The Fat Free TV Guide, rates and ranks what it claims are the best and worst programs on TV based on how much junk food is advertised per show.

According to the guide, AFL coverage on Ten is the worst culprit, followed by Saturday family movies on Nine, then The X Factor and Dancing with the Stars, both on Seven.

The Simpsons on Ten, Sunrise on Seven and Ten’s Junior MasterChef also rate poorly on the site.

The worst shows air around 26 junk food ads over a six hour viewing period, according to the Cancer Council.

In a statement, Cancer Council nutrition manager Clare Hughes said:

“The Fat Free TV Guide clearly shows that junk food companies are choosing to advertise their unhealthy products during programs that are popular with children and families.

“It’s important that we act to reduce children’s exposure to junk food marketing. One in four children are overweight or obese and we know most of those children will grow up to become overweight adults with a higher risk of developing some cancers. Preventing weight gain and promoting healthy eating habits from a young age can reduce the risk of cancer later in life.

“Parents have the biggest role to play in encouraging their children to eat healthily but they have a tough job battling the multi million dollar food and advertising industries. What we would like to see is advertising regulation that limits children’s exposure to junk food advertising during their favourite TV programs.”

The agency that developed the website and campaign was Republic of Everyone.

The fast food industry has signed up to voluntary guidelines committing not to advertise unhealthy food on programming aimed specifically at children. However the guidlines do not cover general programming which is watched by both adults and children.

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