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I think we need to find new ways to STOP obesied in young adults!!!!

- Destiny White, pea ridge,united states

More nanny state nonsense, I would expect a professor to be a little more objective and considered in his utterances; he plainly sees the UK population as a plebeian mass milling around unable to feed themselves with a balanced diet.

- Steve, Hereford

The left continues to control people and never ceases to stop its transpaarent attack upon the successful capitalism it so envys and loathes. This, "it's for the good of the children" mime is wearing thin. Why not just get have a revolution and get it over with fellas?

- Don L, hartford usa

Don't you just love living in a free country!

- Ian, Midlands,England

Well they don't advertise cigarettes and they are bad for us. At the end of the day we all have to take responsibilty for our own self control. But how many of us see a KFC ad or the M&S ad or a chocolate magnum advert and say "Mmmmm I could just eat one of them now"??????

- Julie, London

I can see it coming now. Lawsuits against the food companies for causing the public to become obese. LOL

- G. Michael, Kingwood, WV USA

If advertising was that powerful how come I don't buy a new sofa and a new kitchen every bank holiday?

- Ben, London, W1

Come on people. Tell gov't enough is enough. Where is personal responsibility? What is next, a ban on toothpaste? Stand up folks, be counted before it's too late.

- Charles Horne, Reynolds, Ga. USA

There is only one answer. The government should issue compulsory "healthy eating" menus for all restaurants, close down all fast food outlets including fish and chip shops, and introduce approved shopping lists to ensure people only buy the correct food.

- Patrick Griffin, Dalston, London

Just another example of failure to take responsibility for ourselves. If I see an advert for KFC no matter how good it looks, as a reasonable person I understand it is not a healthy meal. If I decide I fancy one as an occasional indulgence then surely that is my decision. If I were to eat one every day then that is equally my decision, albeit an unhealthy one.

- Mark, London

Ban this ban that, is there anything they don't want to ban?

Fags, Booze, Junk Food, Cars...............

- P I Staker, London

Maybe the credit crisis will mean that the gluttons have less money to spend on takeaways and fast food and it will therefore actually have a beneficial effect for some.

- Tom, Watford (UK)

More woolly liberal thinking telling people what to do. Do they honestly think that people who live off of junk food will stop eating it if the mystical square box in their front room stops telling them to? There are many reasons for it, ranging from laziness to depressive comfort eating, stopping the adverts will matter not a jot.

- Bob, Cheam

Obesity is indicative of a gluttonous modern western society where so many people totally lack self control. The same lack of self control is the cause of present credit crisis. There is no quick fix to this self destructive attitude that is so widespread in the UK.

- Extremely Worried, UK

Bread and water. These should be the only legally available products. Then we'll all be nice and skinny.
Better yet, lets just throw out everything invented after about 5000BC, then we can really get back to nature...

- Trunk, US

Yes ban the ads, and establishments that serve junk food should close during the hours when children come out of school. When I walk down my high street at 4pm, it isn't hard to see why there's an obesity epidemic. About 90% of the school kids are chewing on McDonalds, chips, deep fried chicken, etc. as they walk home. This surely can't be their dinner? If it is, the parents need to take a long, hard look at themselves.

How anyone can prefer tasteless junk food to a properly cooked and balanced meal is beyond me. Perhaps if people weren't so lazy, they would start cooking proper food for their children, instead of giving them chicken nuggets and oven chips every night. I really don't buy the excuses of "not enough time" or "it's cheaper" (which it's not).

- Jock, London

As per the tobacco industry and the money spent by all confectionary companies the link of advertising to consumption is assured, no arguement. The confectionary industry (like tobacco was)is disputing the facts (even to the point of disputing any connection of confectionary to obesity, just like the tobacco industry disputed the link to cancer for decades). We need very clear advertising rules and clear warnings by people who are more interested in health than profit.

- Michael, Birmingham

It's not these companies' fault - they are providing a commodity that people want. But why do kids want it? It's initially the fault of the parents who allow their children to get a taste for it, and then later on, peer pressure when kids see everyone else eating junk food.

- Claire, London

Pass a law confining all food advertising to Channel Five - then no-one will ever see it as they'll never be able to receive it. Not in my part of West London anyway. Easy, eh?

- Michelle@Shed22.Org.Uk, London

What is the point in trying to ban junk food when you will soon be able to buy an obesity tablet over the counter for £1 a day? We will all be able to trough to our (groaning) heart's delight, then go on the pills for a few days! Well done Isabel for losing 4 stone, I wish you luck in keeping it off - it's good to hear of someone doing something for herself rather than waiting for the government to come up with a solution.

- Paul, London

"Ed - open your eyes and look around you, it's not 'just a few' who carry too much weight. I think you'll find the 'just a few' are in fact in the majority."
"I think junk food adverts should be banned."
Max, London

Max, do you really believe that banning something that isn't actually compelling you to do anything will reduce obesity levels?

Just the other day I was sitting in a park when I saw a woman go by with a pushchair. In the pushchair was the baby. At the back of the pushchair was attached a wheeled platform upon which was a child, more than capable of walking.

This was in a park.

The standing child was fat.

Banning junk food adverts, aimed at adult audiences, will not make this child thin. Neither will the bag of Monster Munch he was holding will.

- Escobar A-Lop-Lop, Camden County

The 'obesity catastrophe' has not been created by advertising. Supermarkets that sell 'meal solutions' have played a part. A money obsessed culture that demands productivity and efficiency in all things has played a part. Government interference in education, removing home economics from the curriculum, has played a significant part.
The very idea of "junk food" is a nonsense created by the nutritionists who have played such a prominent role in messing up our eating habits. In moving the debate away from 'good eating' to the pseudo science of nutrition we have encouraged people to think of food simply as fuel rather than an important part of their daily lives. Fish and chips are not junk food; nor are hamburgers; nor are pizzas. People need to learn to eat properly.

There are plenty of initiatives in schools such as Global Action Plan's Good Grub Club trying to engage kids in eating well. If Professor James put his weight behind such initiatives instead of pontificating about advertising - not his field of expertise - he might make a meaningful contribution towards a healthier society.

- Jonnys, Reading Berkshire

I should have expected that! I'm not saying people shouldn't take responsibility for themselves. I've just done exactly that myself thank you very much and yes, I can control myself when I watch the ads but I can also understand why other people don't. I'm not excusing it per say. I'm just saying that whether it's right or not I think it would help prevent people raiding their cupboards late at night. I ain't no nanny state fan though.

- Isabel, Woking

Maybe if all these fat people calling for the banning of junk food adverts did something other than watch TV, they wouldn't find themselves being overweight. Saying that, I eat at least 3 full meals a day, countless chocolate bars and sweets, and weigh only 58 kilo's. Maybe its something to do with my metabolism, or maybe its more to do with the fact that I don't sit around on my sofa being an armchair social commentator waiting for the world to right my wrongs. Get off your back sides and walk to the shop to get another bag of extra large crisps, while the rest of us take responsibility for our own lives

- James, London

No such thing as "junk" food. Food is food. If one eats nothing but potatoes, one has an unbalanced diet. Hamburgers, chips, crisps, cakes, etc. can all be part of a balanced diet if consumed in moderation. There is nothing inherently unhealthy in so-called "junk" food unless it is eaten to the exclusion of all other foods. Steak is delicious and healthy, but unless you get a good supply of grains and veggies to supplement it, you'll be unhealthy.

- Steve Mitton, Idaho, USA

The important thing to remember here is that it is not the individuals responsibility to look after themselves and their families. It can only be the responsibility of ‘them’ or ‘they.’ I think we should make it clear that ‘they’ or ‘them’ can only be organisations that make a profit or the government. If only ‘they’ didn’t sell food and if only ‘they’ hadn’t offered a product for sale then I wouldn’t have bought it and stuffed it down my fat, ugly mouth.

I think the government should take real action on this and close down the farms and food producers as well as all the shops to ensure there isn’t enough food to go round. This is the only logical solution to control the fat publics appetite for freedom of choice and this crazy notion of a free market economy.

Now, where did I put that wayfffer thin mint…

- Ben, London

Ed - open your eyes and look around you, it's not 'just a few' who carry too much weight. I think you'll find the 'just a few' are in fact in the majority.

Like Isabel, who has admirably taken control of her situation - I think junk food adverts should be banned.

- Max, London

Bring back Home Economics lessons. Pay for them by dropping the PC rubbish.

- Dave Davies, Basingstoke

Every time I see a food advert I just have eat another pie or pizza, wash it down with a few beers and watch some reality TV. It's time the government took control of my life.

- Tom, Watford (UK)

"Sometimes every single TV advert in a break is a food one and by the end of it who isn't feeling peckish?"

Not me...but then I'm an adult that can control my urges. That said, I love my food, eat far too much and probably don't do as much exercise as I should, thus I'm overweight. No-one else to blame, not my parents, not my schooling, not the government, nor advertising, just me, for my glutony, and despite all their advertising and widespread popularity, I've manged to live my life thusfar without needing to go into a McDonalds, or a KFC for that matter.

Isabel, I suggest you keep away from commercial TV (or TV generally)...or perhaps do something else when the adverts come on.

- Escobar A-Lop-Lop, Camden County

NO! Junk food ads should not be banned.
People should be forced to take responsibility for themselves!

- Keith Lonsdale, Doncaster

Isabel come on now, just because you and a few others cannot control yourselves why do the majority of people have to give up an ocassional snack, Who is going to declare what is junk food, the over-weight people in the commons ??

- Ed, london

It is high time that "junk food" was totally banned everywhere in order to save humans (young and old)!

Far too much emphasis is put on the profits that can be made by the companies responsible for junk food and the employment opportunities that they can provide. This is utter nonsense when simply compared to the DAMAGE that their products cause to the human body over the short, medium and long terms!

Exactly how much does ALL the associated "damage" cost our Health Service over the medium to long term? Even if "junk food" were eliminated right away the ongoing associated costs to the Health Service for those already affected will continue for decades! This is why immediate action MUST be taken NOW!

- Fraser, Telford Park

If people can't eat sensibly and choose to live totally inactive lives what do they expect?I've no sympathy for the pie testers.

- Eddie, London

I know obesity amongst children is very serious but it's just as serious amongst young adults. By allowing food adverts after 9pm all you do is get a glut of them and most people (including me) are pretty suggestible at that sort of time in the evening.

I've just lost 4 stone and believe me the food adverts on TV made it very difficult. Sometimes every single TV advert in a break is a food one and by the end of it who isn't feeling peckish? To make matters worse, 15 minutes later the same group of adverts is shown, thus reinforcing the suggestion of food late at night.

Personally, I would be delighted if they banned all junk food adverts. I know it's terribly 'nanny state' and one could switch over during the ads but out of the general population who is really going to do that? I think it would make a big difference to people's waist lines (and thus cost to NHS which we all pay for).

Often subconciously people eat when they're bored and addiction to comfort food is indeed similar to other drug addictions. I don't think this country recognises quite how big a problem it is. Most often the bad eating is when they're at home relaxing after a day's work, 8/10 people will be watching TV. If they are receiving suggestive messages about food then they start snacking and the weight creeps up.

Not an ideal solution to weild Nanny's cane but for the first time I agree with her!

- Isabel, Woking

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