Lynne Phillips a School Aycliffe cancer campaigner travelled to Westminster to back a cause close to her heart – a drive to reduce childhood obesity supporting Cancer Research UK’s new campaign, ‘Junk Free TV’.
She took part in a day of action on Tuesday 5th July urging her MP Phil Wilson to back the campaign which calls for the removal of junk food advertising on TV before the 9pm watershed to help children lead long and healthy lives.
In the North East nearly one in four children (23.7%) are overweight or obese*, and those who are obese as children are more likely to be obese as adults which increases their risk of developing cancer.
Research shows children who see junk food advertised on TV eat more unhealthy food. While such ads have already been removed during children’s TV shows, young viewers are regularly exposed to alluring marketing during other programming, such as family entertainment.
Lynne shared with MPs the results of a campaign report from Cancer Research UK which features interviews with eight- twelve year olds. It illustrates the frightening and persuasive impact of TV junk food advertising on youngsters, with one child saying they wanted to “lick the screen”, while others said they had “begged” and “pestered” their parents to buy junk food they’d enjoyed watching the ads for.
Of one particular advert, a child said: “It makes you feel happy and excited, and it feels like you want to try it because the guy’s dancing in it because he’s eaten it and it tastes good.”
Lynne said: “As a parent I know how motivated children are by junk food advertising and I have first-hand experience of ‘pester power’.
“Children are bombarded by advertising tailored to tempt them. The pretty colours and cartoons all influence the food they prefer. At a time when junk food is cheap and packed with extra calories, we need stronger action to help prevent children from choosing these foods.
“So as someone whose lost loved ones to cancer, I hope people in this area will really get behind the Junk Free TV campaign and its efforts to help prevent children growing up to be overweight adults and at risk of cancer in later life.”
Alison Cox, Cancer Research UK’s Director of Cancer Prevention, said: “We’re grateful for Lynne’s support in helping to highlight the scale of the issue. Obesity is the biggest preventable cause of cancer after smoking and costs the NHS billions of pounds each year.
We owe it to future generations to reduce the devastating impact caused by the obesity epidemic and help save more lives.”
To support the campaign, visit cruk.org/junkfreetv. cruk.org/junkfreetv