Public health researchers from the University of Otago campus in Wellington have published a study critical of the New Zealand Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) regulation of food advertising to children.
The research contends that the ASA self-regulatory system for controlling advertising to children does not work with regard to unhealthy food. One child in three in New Zealand is either overweight or obese, and the over-consumption of ‘junk’ food has been linked to significant increases in health risks in later life.
Over a six-month period, the study examined how the ASA Board dealt with complaints made under the current advertising codes. The research concluded that there were two major faults in the Board's dealings. The first was that the Board failed to acknowledge the targeting of children to ‘pester’ parents for unhealthy food as valid grounds for complaint. The second was that a substantial amount of ‘screening out’ of complaints by the Chair of the Board took place, even before complaints were considered.
One example of the ASA's inconsistent implementation of the voluntary Code for Advertising to Children and the Code for Advertising of Food was a decision made on an advert that screened at 6.50 pm, when many children are still watching TV. The ad featured a child as the main actor and lollies as the product. The Board, however, ruled the children’s code did not apply, as it said the ad was not directed at children.
In their report, the researchers went so far as to say that in failing to properly maintain advertising codes, a breach of the spirit of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child had occurred. It also pointed out that the ASA codes regarding unhealthy food advertising to children did not comply with Government policy on encouraging healthy eating.
A full copy of the study has been published in the journal Critical Public Health.
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