7. SUE MORONEY (Labour) Link to this
to the Minister of Health
What agreement with major television broadcasters will the Government announce today and what long-term health gains are anticipated?
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister of Health) Link to this
This morning, with the Minister of Broadcasting, I announced agreement with the two major free-to-air TV channels on a five-point plan aimed at improving food advertising to children by limiting the sort of advertising shown during children’s programming zones. This will help improve nutrition and promote a more healthy lifestyle amongst our children, which will promote long-term health gains.
What is the essence of this agreement, and how does the Minister intend to satisfy himself that it will work?
The essence of the agreement is that only advertisements that meet the new standard can be shown. In addition, the television companies will pay for some social marketing campaigns along the lines of Push Play, which will help to promote lifestyle changes in general. The Ministry of Health will monitor these changes so that I can learn to what extent they are successful.
Sue KedgleyI seek leave to table two documents. One shows that the category of children’s programming that the new announcement will cover is 21 hours on TV2 and 15 hours on TV3.
The second document is a survey by the Broadcasting Standards Authority, showing that most children watch television outside those hours.