I don’t know if you saw, but this week it was announced that advertising on television for junk food is going to have a curfew…it’s become as bad as swearing as far as television is concerned. No adverts for junk until after 9pm.
Is this a Nanny State? Do you think it matters? Do you think it’s interfering? Will you even notice?
The government are using this change to advertising as a method of trying to tackle the rising levels of obesity in this country. It isn’t going to be the only method, but it is a method that they want to try, the thinking that if children do not see the marketing, the adverts that are designed to entice them, it might remove the likelihood of them going into a shop and wanting it…if they haven’t been lured there by the adverts.
Of course it isn’t going to work for everyone. But stats currently show that 1 in 3 Primary School Children leave school overweight or obese and I don’t know where those children become educated in being able to address them in a sensible way, in an educated way. So if removing some adverts can help a small percentage, surely that has to be a good thing.
More needs to be done on educating (quite a few) generations on how to cook. Unless you come from a family who cook, who offer a wide variety of options and encourage eating in a healthy way, then how do you learn if it isn’t easily accessible? I remember a brief period in Home Economics in the 90s where I made some mince pies (they were horrific) and some strange upside down apple and ginger cake! I wasn’t taught how to cook vegetables, what to do with different meats and to be fair I wasn’t interested and didn’t try and find out at any point until recent years. I made my first omelette and scrambled eggs just 6yrs ago. I only tried my first fried egg when I was drunk in Tenerife in my 20s – I do believe I texted my mum to let her know! I hadn’t tried mushrooms or spinach, I didn’t know I liked cabbage, or prawns, or fish (not from a chip shop). I didn’t know that I could like food from other countries, that cooking isn’t actually that terrifying or intimidating; it’s simply following some instructions.
Junk food is never going to go away, some people are able to control their intake and it not be an issue. I have a serious problem with sugar (shit sugar/junk food), I don’t have an “off” button, if I have it, I have it to excess. For the past 3 weeks I have not had any sweets, nor any chocolate. I have had a cream cake on a weekend, I have had biscuits, I have had ice cream for pudding, but not the sweets or chocolate. Not only have I lost almost ½ stone, but I feel better, my jeans fit better already, my workouts are more energised, my skin has got better, my sleep is better.
But that’s not all.
As I haven’t been buying the rubbish, as I haven’t been going into the cupboard to have a couple of Percy Pigs, or a packet of chocolate buttons, I haven’t been offering them to The Boy. And do you know what? He hasn’t once asked for them. In 3 weeks not once has he asked for a Freddo, or a little pack of Haribos, or some Percy Pigs, not even Jelly Tots! I am never going to deprive him; if he asked for them he could have had them, but by simply removing their presence on a daily basis, he hasn’t wanted them. And neither have I!
So maybe, just maybe the removal of a few ads for a few hours, might just help a few people and where is the harm in that?