January 10th, 2012
Canadians back ban on junk food ads targeting kids: Survey
By Sarah Schmidt
Vancouver Sun
The majority of Canadians strongly support an outright ban on junk food marketing aimed at children, a new government-commissioned survey has found.
More than half of those surveyed (53 per cent) said they are strong supporters of banning all marketing of high-fat, high-sugar or high-salt foods aimed directly at kids and youth. Six in 10 strongly support restricting this type of junk-food marketing.
Support for the taxation of junk food and sugary drinks is also “high,” with a significant minority strongly supporting slapping a special tax on soft drinks (40 per cent) and junk foods such as chips and candy (37 per cent) to fund programs to fight childhood obesity.