Tuesday 19 February 2008

junk food advertising

i've had a busy couple of days, not much time to post. this poll caught my eye today. it's not a political one, but a poll related to parent's attitude towards advertising of unhealthy food and drink aimed at children. the poll found that 82% of parents or grandparents agreed that such advertising should be stopped.

what i find most interesting about this is that there's so much noise about society being over-regulated; "nanny state" is in almost every sentence used by right-wing parties; yet it appears that people do want regulation around issues that matter. the sample size was small for this poll, so it's probably not particuarly accurate. the herald's on-line feedback shows a very mixed response - although these kinds of on-line forums, like talk-back radio, seem to be where the rednecks congregate, so that's probably not very accurate either. however, there seems to be a sense that some control is needed in this area, particularly in light of the problems around obesity.

another example where more regulation is asked for is around the finance sector, particularly in relation to the collapse of so many finance companies. in this instance, the feeling seems to be that financial advisors should be subject to greater regulation. and people seem to be happy with the regulations around the real estate industry as well, and the majority seem to be particularly happy about bars and restaurants being free of smoke.

the conclusion would be that regulation in certain areas is desirable, sometimes essential to the overall well-being of society. it's a pretty sad society when taking care of people's well-being is seen as a bad thing.

on another note, good to see the conference on disarmament happening this week. let's hope something good comes of it.

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