Obesity figures prompt renewed call for junk food ad ban in Singapore

The Minister said that one way to reverse the rising obesity rate was to roll out guidelines to protect children against indiscriminate advertising of unhealthy food and drinks.

According to figures from Nielsen Advertising Information Services, advertising spend on fast-food brands currently accounts for around 18 per cent of overall ad spend in Singapore.

During the period January to October 2010, ad spend on fast-food brands was US$25.3 million (S$33.4 million); overall ad spend for the same period was US$1.3 billion. (Information accurate at time of print.)

Neighbouring Malaysia has already banned fast-food firms from sponsoring TV shows for children or advertising on children's programmes.

Outright bans on junk food advertising on television channels and programmes targeted at children are already in place in Sweden and in the UK.

But health experts here have said that advertising bans do not necessarily translate to falls in obesity, as children are more influenced by the eating habits of their parents.

According to the latest national health survey - which is done once every six years - 11.3 per cent of adults aged between 18 and 69 years are diabetic, compared to 8.2 per cent in 2004 and 9 per cent in 1998.

Khaw does not believe that obesity is a symptom of economic development, saying that the Japanese and the Koreans have remained slim.

“Their obesity prevalence at 4 per cent ... is less than half of ours. We must understand their approach and see if it can be adopted here," he said.