According to the Codacons, there is a lot of junk food on TV, and careful rules are necessary to “remove the wrong messages”.
Junk food, gummy candies, sugary sodas – or in short, Fast food. This is the new enemy of codacon Disturbed by the excessive presence of so-called junk food on television, they decided to contact the Childhood, Adolescent and Antitrust Authority to ensure that they conduct “appropriate checks for possible hidden advertisements in reality shows and programs available on broadcast platforms”. A type of entertainment that often caters to a young if not very young audience, who, according to the association, risk assuming “wrong eating habits and healthy habits from an early age”.
Now, there’s a bit of order: childhood obesity is a real problem and is often painfully underestimated – especially in Italy – and the Codacons have attached themselves, sounding the alarm, to one finding. study conducted by researchersUniversity of Nottingham Specifically, it appeared that out of the 13,200 minutes and 264 episodes of 20 reality shows that aired between 2019 and 2020 in United kingdom Fast food appeared, in one form or another, for 1,750 minutes of 234 broadcasts, to position itself right behind alcohol. It is also known (and here we don’t think it necessary to provide any scientific data to support the thesis) that children are more easily influenced than adults, and would happily replace a full meal with French fries and ice cream. In this context, the Codacons’ view is at least understandable, if not directly shared: always referring to the above study, it can be read that UK children, in the time frame examined, would have had more than 21 million rounds where the meals were Fast is the hero. Codacons overreact? Perhaps – and far from being the white knights we invested in in the light of moral justice, and ultimately also greedy – but remember when we talked a few lines ago about how underestimatedobesity childish In Italy?
“We do not support censorship nor restrictions in the technical field,” explained the national president of the organization, Marco Donzelli. “But you have to pay close attention to what our children are constantly exposed to. Smoking and alcohol are only substances that cause harm to the human body and should be severely restricted, but fast food should also be viewed with a certain apprehension.”
