Professor Gina Trapp, Head of the Food Environments Team at NHIRI, recently featured on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) 7:30 Report about children’s exposure to unhealthy junk food advertising
This news segment, which aired on Tuesday 17 February 2025, shed light on an issue concerning parents, the community and health experts about children being exposed to a barrage of harmful junk food advertising during their daily commute to school.
A Food Environments Team research case study looked into just how common advertisements for unhealthy foods are around schools in Perth. The study found there were nine times the number of unhealthy foods advertised than healthy foods.
This includes unhealthy food advertisements on government property where, Gina said, “90 per cent of all of the food ads that were on buses were for unhealthy foods”.
The full ABC segment included views of a concerned parent, a Cancer Council WA spokesperson, Dr Sophie Scamps (independent MP Scamps Independent MP for Mackellar who has called for restrictions on junk food advertising, and an industry spokesperson, is available at ABC 7:30 Report.
Interested in knowing more: Check out what Perth school children think about these junk foods ads in a recent article published by the Food Environments Team. Article citation: Francis J, Ross E, Pulker C, Brinkman S, Mandzufas J, Martin K, Howard J, Trapp G. Children’s views on outdoor advertising of unhealthy food and beverages near schools. Appetite. 2025 Feb 1;206:107851.
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