Federal government wants to keep advertising for unhealthy products away from children
Keystone-SDA
The Swiss government wants to ban advertising for overly sweet, fatty and unhealthy products aimed specifically at children under the age of 13. Advertising for crisps, chocolate or sweet drinks, for example, is to be kept out of schools. The aim is self-regulation.
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The Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) presented a proposal for self-regulation to representatives of the food and advertising industry in Bern on Tuesday, the FSVO said.
The conditions are as follows: self-regulation must take place across the entire industry and cover all relevant online and offline advertising channels through which children under the age of 13 are reached in large numbers and in a targeted manner. These include television, the internet, social media, online games and posters near schools.
The reduction in advertising must also be scientifically based on the nutritional profile of the World Health Organization (WHO). Finally, self-regulation should be monitored by the federal government.
The food and advertising industry has until mid-July to confirm its participation in the self-regulation programme and commit to the required criteria.
+ Overweight rates among Swiss schoolchildren hit 20-year low
One in five children too heavy
Advertising for sweets, snacks and sweet drinks influences children’s eating behaviour and encourages the consumption of high-calorie foods and drinks, argues the FSVO.
At the same time, one in five children in Switzerland suffers from overweight or obesity. This significantly increases the risk of developing non-communicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular diseases.
According to the government, early patterns of eating behaviour have a lasting influence on nutrition in later phases of life. Children and young people should therefore be able to develop healthy eating behaviour from an early age.
Advertising aimed at children for foods that are too sweet, too fatty and too salty has been shown to influence consumer behaviour and contribute to an unhealthy diet, it said. Children therefore need special protection as they are very susceptible to advertising.
Adapted from German by AI/ts
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