By Gemma Charles, marketingmagazine.co.uk, 23 June 2009, 5:00pm

Children's groups call on CAP to protect kids from 'junk food' advertising

LONDON - The Children's Society, NCB and the Children's Food Campaign are among the organisations that have called upon the Committee of Advertising Practice to change its code of practice so that 'all children are properly protected from junk food advertising'.

A letter signed by six organisations representing UK children's rights states: ‘We believe that all children and young people under the age of 16 have a right to be protected from unhealthy food marketing' and calls for amendments which remove the current ‘loopholes' which excludes older children.

Christine Haigh, coordinator of the Children's Food Campaign, which coordinated the letter, said: ‘Given the poor diets of many of the UK's children, and the rising tide of childhood obesity, it is vital that all children are protected from advertisers aggressively promoting junk food.'

She added: ‘It is ridiculous that UK law protects children up to the age of 16 from junk food advertising during children's television programmes, yet marketers have a free-for-all when it comes to other media, such as the internet and text messaging.'