The Irish Heart Foundation (IHF) is calling on the Government to ban the TV advertising of foods high in fat, sugar and salt before the 9pm "watershed" in order to combat childhood obesity.
Children's brand loyalty was being "bought" from as early as two years of age through "aggressive marketing of unhealthy products" in television adverts, the IHF told an Oireachtas health committee yesterday.
Research from the European Heart Network, of which the IHF is a member, had found that the marketing of unhealthy food to children was now on a "massive" scale, and that most food advertising directed towards children was unhealthy.
"Essentially, in relation to the marketing of food products we are talking about the 'big five': snacks, fast foods, confectionery, sweetened cereal and soft drinks," Maureen Mulvihill, of the IHF, told the committee.
These five categories contribute a high proportion of calories to the diet, with one-fifth of Irish children's energy intake coming from sweets, snacks and biscuits.
She said these foods encouraged passive over-consumption in the form of "snacking" and often displaced healthier foods in the diet.
She said a report from the UK Food Standards Agency had found the recommended diet was undermined by advertising for unhealthy food, and three-quarters of food advertised to children was sugary, fatty and salty.
She said schools were also used to advertise unhealthy food to children through the use of sponsorship and vending machines.
Ms Mulvihill acknowledged that the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) had a children's advertising code, but said "it doesn't adequately protect children".
There was no restriction on how many adverts were shown in each time slot each day by any one brand, allowing companies to reinforce their message as frequently as they wished.
"The BCI code should restrict advertising of foods high in fat, salt and sugar up to the 9pm watershed to provide adequate protection for children - essentially permitting no advertising for these foods before 9pm."
She said the Government and MEPs needed to advocate for these changes to be implemented on a European level.
Ibec's food sector, the Food and Drink Industry Ireland (FDII), told the committee there was no evidence that television advertising adversely affected children's health.
"Obesity is a multi-factoral condition and there is no evidence that advertising is a factor," said Paul Kelly of the FDII.
Some countries who had banned TV advertising to children on ethical grounds had not seen a downward trend in childhood obesity levels, he said.
The BCI code was working, he said, with just two complaints about advertising to children received to date.
