The Green Party has called for a ban on junk food advertisements aimed at children under 12, as part of a series of radical measures to combat child obesity.
The party claimed yesterday that aggressive advertising and marketing techniques had contributed to the increase in obesity among Irish children.
"Marketing aimed at children, both on television and through event sponsorship, continues to present a grossly imbalanced nutritional message to children, effectively promoting a diet that is high in sugar, sodium and fat," said the party's chairman and health spokesman, Mr John Gormley.
The party quoted research which showed that the causes of childhood obesity were a combination of sedentary lifestyles, inactivity and poor diet, involving an excess of foods high in fat and sugar.
Mr Gormley claimed that "pester power" was being used by companies to help persuade parents to buy certain foods for their children.
Sweetened breakfast cereals came in for particular criticism because many of them fell within the UK Food Commission's recent definition of "junk foods", as they contain more than 10g of sugar per 100g.
The Greens are targeting childhood obesity because treatment of the condition at an early age has been shown to be more successful than treatment for adults with similar problems.
They claim that children do not understand the motives behind an advertisement until they are between 10 and 12 years old. This has influenced guidelines in Norway and Sweden, where advertising to under 12s is banned.
The party said it would support the introduction of a junk food tax in the future, as recommended by the Irish Heart Foundation, although this is not included in the party's present recommendations.
Mr Gormley criticised the Government's policy on diet and exercise and said its attitude seemed to be that it could address the problem when it was too late.
The Greens' education spokesman, Mr Paul Gogarty, called for a reversal of the suspension of the physical education and sports grant. The grant provided schools with up to €1,270 for equipment and coaching.
Obesity factfile:
- 14% of Irish men and 12% of Irish women are obese
- 10% of Irish children are obese
- 32% of Irish children are overweight
- 6.7% of boys and 18.5% of girls are on weight-reducing diets
Source: SLAN national health and lifestyle surveys, published April 2003, health promotion unit