{"id":3582,"date":"2022-08-05T08:05:52","date_gmt":"2022-08-05T08:05:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepoetryofscience.peachpuff-wolverine-566518.hostingersite.com\/?p=3582"},"modified":"2022-08-05T08:05:52","modified_gmt":"2022-08-05T08:05:52","slug":"junk-advertisements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/thepoetryofscience\/3582\/junk-advertisements\/","title":{"rendered":"Junk Advertisements"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hordes of busy lives
\ndescend into the depths,
\nwaiting in line to cruise
\nmechanical capillaries
\nto work,
\nto home,
\nto visit the Queen.
\nShapes of colour
\ncatch the eye,
\nrising from seas
\nof unknown faces
\nto leap into the consciousness
\nof dulled and weary minds.
\nMouth-watering commercials
\nthat play on repeat,
\nguiding unsuspecting
\nwallets to regurgitate their
\ncontents upon the altars
\nof convenience.
\nA smorgasbord of
\nfuture health emergencies,
\ndripping in the consumption
\nof our present excess.<\/p>\n

Wiped clean of cuisine,
\nhungry billboards
\nnow ripple in the breeze \u2013
\npushing their goods
\nto sated, unsuspecting fares.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
An example of junk food advertising at Oxford Circus Underground Station in June 2008 (Image Credit: Flickr \/ albyantoniazzi).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This poem is inspired by recent research<\/a>, which has found that junk food advertising restrictions on Transport for London networks have prevented almost 100,000 obesity cases since 2019.<\/p>\n

In 2019, 64% of adults in England were overweight, with 28% being obese and 3% morbidly obese. Obesity is a significant health risk and is associated with an increased risk of diseases including diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers. Many different public health interventions have been proposed to deal with rising obesity rates and their consequences, including targeted weight loss interventions, taxation, and labelling. Studies have also shown that restricting advertising for High Fat, Sugar, and Salt (HFSS) products can be effective, especially with regards to reducing levels of childhood obesity. As such, in 2019, Transport for London implemented restrictions on the advertisements of HFSS food across its transport network.<\/p>\n

In this new study, researchers have assessed the impact that these restrictions have had. By observing what consumers were purchasing in their weekly food shops via surveys and comparing trends in London to a control group of households outside of London where there were no restrictions on advertising in place, the researchers were able to assess the effect that this policy is having on people\u2019s health and the health service. The results show that the restrictions have directly led to almost 100,000 fewer cases of obesity than expected (around a 5% decrease), approximately 3,000 fewer cases of diabetes, and 2,000 fewer cases of cardiovascular disease. This analysis also found that the current restrictions would save the NHS more than \u00a3200 million over the lifetime of the current population. The study concludes that restricting the advertisement of HFSS products on the public transport network in London is likely to have led to considerable health and economic gains, while also reducing health inequalities. Whilst further research is now needed to investigate the impact of similar policies in other regions, it is likely that restricting the advertisement of HFSS products presents an extremely effective way of tackling rising levels of obesity at a national and even global level.<\/p>\n