Slimming World's Jodie discusses junk food ad ban on ITV News
A mum-of-two who has successfully lost more than 6st - and kept the weight off for over a decade - told ITV News that introducing a watershed for adverts for unhealthy foods is 'a step in the right direction'.
However, Jodie Rigby-Mee, who joined Slimming World in 2002 and dropped from a size 20 to a 10, says these measures alone aren't enough.
Jodie, from Leamington Spa, was speaking on ITV News following reports that the Government is planning to ban junk food advertising before 9pm as part of new measures to tackle obesity, due to be announced next week.
She said: "I think it's a step in the right direction, but I think it's not just the adverts; it's teaching people how to eat better long-term. One of the things I've learned is that diets don't work, Slimming World is long term, so it's just being a bit more empowered and having the knowledge. So I think it's a step in the right direction, but it's making sure we look at all of the things long-term to help people lose weight."
Slimming World's Head of External Affairs Jenny Caven agrees: "Slimming World supports any measures that are going to make it easier for people to make healthy choices in their day-to-day life. Indeed, this is an area in which we have campaigned for many years - our Size Matters campaign highlighted how the impact of ‘upselling’ was fuelling the obesity crisis, our Health on the Shelf campaign called for supermarkets to do more to help their shoppers make healthy choices, and our Tipping Point campaign called for calorie labels on alcohol. However, while changes like this are a big step forward, as Jodie says, they don’t address our complex relationship with food or the psychological barriers to weight loss, which is what’s needed to help people lose weight sustainably in the weeks and months ahead.
"In order to lose weight successfully – something that, as the Government has recognised, is more important than ever given the links between obesity and COVID-19 – people urgently need to make changes to their whole lifestyles – to eat more healthily and become more active, and to do both in ways they can sustain for the long term, so the new healthy behaviours become lasting habits and routines and people have all the tools they need to remain slim for life. And providing people with compassionate, understanding support – so they don’t feel alone – to make these changes is essential to any campaign to tackle obesity."
To watch the interview, see link to right or click here.
