British Heart Foundation - What we're doing

The British Heart Foundation knows that if we are going to tackle rising childhood obesity in the UK, we must improve the information about food that's available to children and parents.

Food4Thought
The BHF Food4Thought campaign is designed to counteract the unhealthy messages that children are receiving. For the third year running, we are sending thousands of packs to schools around the country, full of information and games that help teachers inform children about food.

Don't make a junk monkey out of my kids
We've launched a new website - www.junkmonkeys.tv where young people can play great games that reinforce positive messages about food, rather than the marketing messages they get pushed at them from junk food sites.

Changing the law
Getting good information to children is not enough. If we really are going to protect young people from the junk food manufacturers, we need to put a stop to their marketing tricks.

We've been working with Nigel Griffiths MP to put together a Food Products Bill to give to parliament. If the Bill is passed, it will create a new law that bans companies from promoting unhealthy food to children under 16.

We need Government and MPs to back this new Bill. Sign the BHF petition and tell government you won't stand for irresponsible marketing to
your kids.

Photo of John and Dexter "I'm not over the top about what Dexter eats, but I do discuss it with his mum. Dexter has porridge for breakfast most days - we wouldn't let him eat something like Frosties everyday. And we keep fizzy drinks to a real minimum.The caffeine and sugar in those things can make my kids wild. As a dad, I think there's an link between advertising and childhood obesity. Dexter tries to get us to buy stuff with super-heroes on. He's only six - it's bound to appeal to him.

I think parents know how TV ads and marketing on packets work, but they're a lot less aware of new ways - like digital media. You have to know what your kids are up to. There's no way we'd let Dexter play on junk food sites when there are plenty of decent games available that aren't about fast food.

It's good that the British Heart Foundation is taking a stand on this. It's something that's going to turn our children into unhealthy adults and we shouldn't allow it."
John Curran, London

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your experiences.