Ban junk food advert.

CAMPAIGNERS have called for a ban on all junk food marketing aimed at children.

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) and the Children's Food Campaign want rules on packaging and online marketing to be tightened up.

Their survey of parents found two thirds were unaware that some junk food firms had online games aimed at children.

And more than half the parents did not realise that games and quizzes appeared on food and drink labels.

The BHF and the Children's Food Campaign want the existing regulations extended to cover all forms of marketing aimed at children.

They are calling for packaging, internet sites, product placement and sponsorship all to be included in marketing regulations.

The groups say the current regulation is limited and allows some forms of marketing to slip through the net.

BHF director of policy and communications Betty McBride accused junk food manufacturers of luring children to online playgrounds.

Commenting on the proposed changes to marketing rules, she said: "They have the potential to transform the supermarket experience for stressed parents and change the way future generations of children view food."

Labour MP for South Edinburgh Nigel Griffiths supported the measures, saying: "By presenting a clear and realistic vision for how curbing the marketing of unhealthy food products to children can be implemented, this report underlines the responsibility we have to act."

The survey results are based on a poll conducted in November by market researchers BMRB for the BHF of 1,069 parents of children aged seven to 14 years.