INTRODUCTION
You may have seen that the UK has decided to ban Junk Food adverts before 9 pm. To start off, I hate the term “Junk Food”. As we have mentioned before there is no good or bad food! There are good and bad choices, but not good or bad food. So to label food as “Junk Food” already shows the thinking behind this announcement.
In this article, I am going to read through the new announcement and just give my thoughts on it, go over if I think it is a good idea, could they of done anything differently and just my general two cents on the issue.
If you want to read the article you can read the full article here: “Anti-obesity drive: Junk food TV adverts to be banned before 9 pm”
THE ARTICLE AND THE JUNK FOOD ADVERT BAN
So what exactly is the plan? Well, they plan to bad companies advertising junk food on UK television before 9 pm. They have stated that they won’t be banned adverts on websites (or I believe social media). It seems like it is just TV.
So what are they classing as “Junk Food”, or what falls under the “Junk Food TV Advert Ban”. Well looking at this article it looks like anything “less healthy”. Products to be affected include chocolate, burgers, cakes, sweets, chips, ice cream, biscuits, soft drinks, sweetened juices, crisps and pizzas.
IS THIS A GOOD MOVE? WILL IT HELP?
Yes and no, I am not going to say that this is a horrible idea and has no good points. That simply isn’t true! However, I do think they could have done better (We will talk about this later). Now, I believe that this will cut down on “Junk Food” eating slightly. However, I don’t think it will make a massive difference.
Why do I think it is a bad move? It will lead to the demonisation of “Junk Food”. Remember a calorie is a calorie (Nutrition aside). Is a Burger King the best choice purely based on nutrition? Of course not. Is it the best use of your daily calories? Not really! Is it okay as a treat? Absolutely! Now I know what you are saying “What about the obese people?” For those that are critically obese, I don’t think banning adverts is the solution, they will need more individual help. Therapy and a nutritionist. Not showing an advert isn’t going to suddenly help them.
Another point is that with restriction comes temptation. For example, when people say “I am going to stop eating bread”, what do they suddenly get cravings for? Bread! When you remove something from your diet, your body and brain will just want it! This is why we recommend the “If It Fits Your Macro” way of life. It is so much better, doesn’t lead to temptation!
WHAT ELSE COULD HAVE BEEN DONE?
Is there anything else they could have done? Another way to solve the obesity crisis? Well, as we have mentioned above, stop demonising food and educate not only children but parents on basic nutrition. Teach them how to have a balanced diet! Teach them about basic nutrition, about calories in and calories out!
Another reason I feel that people eat a lot of fast food and “junk food” may be because of either time or lack of cooking skills. Younger people especially might know how to cook, or don’t have the time (or don’t think they have the time) to cook meals. Maybe a push in schools and homes to get young people cooking, even just simple meals. Teaching them to prepare nice, cheap meals made with whole foods. From experience, I didn’t know how to cook when I was younger, I just started with pasta and worked from there.
Also, I feel that there could be a bigger push to help people exercise! Subsidise gym memberships for example. If peoples output goes up then the worry about overeating will come down. We are not saying that just because you hit the gym twice a week that you can go out and eat all the Junk food you want, but you will be surprised at how much increase movement and exercise helps. It could even be as simple as upping your steps. That’s free!
CONCLUSION
Do I think this is the best move? Not at all! However, it is a move and shows that they are making steps towards tackling this issue. I think the next step is to get people moving more, exercising more and just, in general, doing more!
If you do want to try some simple home workouts or even some ideas for workouts at the gym, then you can check out our workout application. It contains loads of workouts and tools to help with fitness! You can download it for free here!
Written by Kieran Blacker
Kieran is the CEO and Founder of Sets & Reps. He decided to make an application that helped people get a gym workout when not at the gym. He designed, Coded and built the application himself.