Children's television sub-standards: a call for significant amendments

To the Editor: Australia has one of the highest levels of food advertising on television in the developed world,1 with most advertisements being for foods that are high in fat, sugar, and/or salt.2 Evidence from international reviews suggests that television food advertising has an independent effect on children’s food preferences and purchasing requests.3,4 While the size of this effect is indeterminate, and the evidence base is correlational and therefore inadequate for making causal inferences,5 there is a highly plausible link between television food advertising and overweight and obesity. It is important to examine whether current regulations protect Australian children from excessive exposure to advertisements for unhealthy food on television.