[Home] [Briefings & research] [Briefing papers] [International] [Dietary health]

August 2004

There is no correlation between the number of food ads shown and levels of obesity. For example, Norway and Belgium have 3 or 4 times less food ads per hour on average than Germany, Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands, yet suffer from higher levels of obesity.

Obesity levels in Sweden are no lower than in many other European countries where advertising is not banned or even where it is subject to very "light" regulations. The Swedes have also not been immune to increasing levels of obesity - for example, obesity levels among adolescents have also been increasing.

Advertising to children under the age of 13 has been banned in Quebec, Canada since 1978. This appears to have had no impact on obesity levels amongst children as they are often used to represent the average for Canada, and are no lower than in other Canadian provinces. In 1996, for example, 27.6% of children in Quebec were overweight with a Canadian average of 29.3%, 35.3% in the Atlantic and 24.4% in the Prairies.

Holland has amongst the lowest levels of childhood obesity in all of Europe. According to International Obesity Task Force (IOTF), 14% of 10 year-olds in Holland are either overweight or obese. This compares to 18% in Sweden and 21% in the UK. Dutch food advertising regulations are no more stringent than in the UK and 98% of homes in the Netherlands have TV, all of which are cable/satellite channels.

More on international comparisons

• Broadcasting

More briefing papers

• Advertising to children
• The role of the advertising industry
• Advertising and diet
• The Regulatory Framework for children's advertising
• What parents and adults think about advertising to children

website design

© Food Advertising Unit 2005   |   Disclaimer   |   Privacy   |   Credits