Youngsters praised for taking on junk food adverts

A group of young people in Peterborough who want to ban junk food advertising on council-owned land have been praised by an associate professor of psychology.

Suzanna Forwood, from the Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, said the way companies used advertising for junk food was "malicious" and typically targeted at "lower income communities".

To hear young people were pushing the council to challenge the issue was "wonderful" and suggested they had an "appetite for something new," she added.

Peterborough City Council cabinet members will vote on whether to adopt a healthier food and drink advertising policy later.

Peterborough Youth Council asked the city council to "restrict" the advertising of food high in fat, salt and sugar in buildings or on land it owns.

It organised a petition in November because it said young people were "bombarded with junk food ads and left to deal with the consequences of obesity and poor mental health on their own".

If the advertising ban is approved, Dr Forwood said the impact would not do a huge amount by itself, especially with the amount of online advertising space.

"But, what is important is it is making statement," Dr Forwood told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.

"This is a huge and challenging problem, and it is wonderful to hear young people pushing the council to take this action.

"There's no one solution so every small win is important and it could encourage other councils to make similar gestures...it has to start somewhere."

She added that the way junk food adverts worked was not directly obvious.

"If a person sees a burger advert it doesn't mean you want a burger, it is more malicious than that.

"When you see a high fat or high sugar food and then you go for what else is available, for example like a packet of crisps.

"Fast food places also end up in more deprived or low-income communities and the people that live close to these tend to have worse diets."

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