Australian Dental Association Calls For Kid’s Junk Food Ad Reduction On Our Screens

“The callout emphasises that the health & wellbeing of children must be placed ahead of profits, mirroring the fact that two out of three Australians support government action to protect children from unhealthy food marketing.”
– ADA.org.au

ADA Stepping Up In Campaign To Limit Unhealthy Food Marketing Targeting Our Children

For too long, it has been open slather for companies manufacturing unhealthy foods and drinks to fill the scheduled spots around children’s TV programming with their advertising. Making money and corporate profitability has gazumped the interests of the health and wellbeing of Australian kids. This has led to growing high levels of childhood obesity and played havoc with the oral health of our kids. Diabetes Type 2 is now a scourge damaging the health of way too many Australians.

“Over the last 50 years, the number of processed foods in supermarkets has increased dramatically. Whereas there were typically between 600 and 800 foods available in the 1960s, there are now around 30,000 items in a standard supermarkets, with many aisles devoted to highly-processed foods such as sweetened drinks, confectionary, savoury snacks, cakes, pastries, sugary breakfast cereals and bars.”
– LiveLighter.com.au

Dental Leadership In Australia Calls Out The Lack Of Regulation

Leadership within the oral health care sector, representing Australian dentists and those associated with the industry, is stepping up to draw attention to the seriousness of this issue. In the past, a misplaced laissez-faire attitude about kids and sweets pervaded cultural and government responses to the warnings by concerned groups. However, the game has changed, as can be seen by the sheer number of unhealthy food choices currently available in our stores. Children have more pocket money at earlier ages and can more easily access these sugary processed foods. It is a perfect storm, which is damaging the oral health of Australians permanently. The Australian Dental Association is now calling for kid’s junk food ad reduction on our screens.

“According to the National Obesity Strategy, more than $500 million is spent annually by food companies on advertising food and non-alcoholic drinks in Australia, with the majority for products high in sugar, salt and fat.

Ms. Martin noted 90% of Australian children aged 5 to 14 engage in recreational screen-based activities weekly, with 40% of them spending between 10-19 hours using screens, while 24% spend over 20 hours.

Advertisers strategically focus on children, knowing how and where to connect with them. Australian children aged 5 to 8 years are exposed to at least 827 unhealthy food advertisements on TV each year, while Australian teens see up to 100 online junk food promotions each week.”
– Food for Health Alliance

Children are innocent and that is why we love them dearly at this time in their lives. They lack the discerning faculties which come, hopefully, later in their lives. Kids are intensely attracted to brightly coloured images, boisterous music, wide smiles, laughter and fun times. These elements are directly used in the ads and marketing for junk food to target children. Plus free giveaways, which everybody loves. Everyone is having a good time in these ads promoting sugary soft drinks and snacks, fast foods, and unhealthy fare more generally. It is the very fake world of TV commercials and online ads, which bombard the screentime spent playing games and watching shows by our kids. Many adults are unaware of the extent of time their children are exposed to these ads over the course of a week or a month. They are busy getting on with their lives and often trying to work. They may be thankful in the short term for the distraction that screens provide for their kids but the long term damage to their health through enticements and encouragements for endless amounts of junk food may be a steep price to pay. Dental bills are expensive, obesity presents life long health challenges and Diabetes type 2 is a degenerative death sentence in the end. 

The ADA Asks That These Changes Are Made For The Oral Health Of Our Kids

“Online environments are free of unhealthy food marketing” – with our kids spending so much time engaging with screens it is important that they are not being exposed to these kinds of ads and marketing. It is unfair to the health of our children and to parents endeavouring to navigate a healthy road to adulthood for their children. Dentists and dental hygienists like us in Sunbury know that diet is the single most important thing in promoting good oral health and a healthy lifestyle, more generally. At the moment their job fighting tooth decay and gum disease is like wrestling with a lion with one hand tied behind their back.

“TV, radio and similar media do not feature unhealthy food marketing during times when children are watching and listening. “ – The targeting of children with glitzy, colourful ads specifically designed to win them over sensorially to stimulate their desire to get hold of these junk foods is really a betrayal of their vulnerability at these tender ages. The advertising industry is a psychologically sophisticated beast in the 21C and this should be realised in its fullness. Past cultural attitudes to this are hopelessly outdated, as are the regulatory guardrails around this business and its impact upon sections of our population. It is time to end the open slather on our kids for profit.

“Public spaces, events and retail environments are free from this advertising.” – In the same way that we limit the promotion of dangerous substances like tobacco and alcohol, unhealthy junk food and sugary snacks should fall into this category for kids. Pushing these substances and unhealthy food choices onto our children should not be encouraged. No one is demanding a complete ban of the products themselves but merely the high profile advertising and marketing of them in public spaces, shops and at events.

“Companies are prevented from using cartoons on product packaging, toys and prizes to market junk food to children.”

Advertising and marketing are pervasive industries, with their claws in everything. Protecting our kids from associating unhealthy junk food choices with their favourite toys and cartoon characters is an important step to take if we are going to reduce the damage to oral health and their health more generally. The evidence is there for all to see that the ads and marketing have been overwhelmingly successful to the detriment of our kids. Do we want to go on turning a blind eye to the damage being done on a huge scale and just hope that it is someone else’s children or are we going to stop it? Bribing kids to buy junk food by placing toys and promises of prizes in and on the packaging is a travesty. What are we teaching our kids really?

This is why the Australian Dental Association (ADA) is calling for kid’s junk food ad reduction on our screens.

“The ADA has joined with more than 40 public health, consumer and community organisations backing a call by the Food for Health Alliance for the Federal Government to reduce junk food ads for kids.”
– ADA.org.au

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