Every sixth child in Germany is overweight. So the food minister Cem Etzdemir wants to ban junk food ads despite the backlash. If it were up to Green Party Minister of Food and Agriculture Cem Ekdemir, junk food advertising would have been banned long ago. According to experts, relevant advertising intended for children should not be placed on TV, radio and Internet between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. german wave. In addition, bright posters advertising sweets or snacks should be banned in schools, kindergartens and playgrounds in the future. “We must make sure that children grow up healthy. This is very important in the fight against obesity and other nutrition-related diseases.” Cem Ekdemir said this when he presented his plans in Berlin at the beginning of the week. “Junk food advertising has been proven to influence children’s eating habits,” he said.

However, representatives of the German food industry dispute this argument, such as Carsten Bernot, head of the Federal Association of the German Confectionery Industry. Banning ads won’t make kids eat less sweets, as he claims. “Advertising is necessary in a market economy. Its function is how the firm will take share from other competitors.

German confectionery manufacturers report sales of around 14 billion euros last year, while the industry spends a billion euros on advertising and promotion. On the other hand, according to the Robert Koch Institute, every sixth child in Germany is overweight or obese. Among 11-13-year-olds, this is one in five. Experts warn and sound the alarm about a host of diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Just think that even in Crete, home to the ancient Cretan diet, considered the most balanced in the world, unhealthy children are alarmingly overweight. However, the proposal of German Food Minister Cem Etzdemir is met with objections within the government itself, especially from the liberals. According to them, this means “more bureaucracy, more restrictions, less innovation and less quality of life.”

But what do the children themselves say? 18-year-old Noah, for example, seems to agree with the minister. “You have to see how many people these days are overweight. The youth are also suffering. I see it every day at school. And certainly there are alternatives to sweets that someone can buy,” he concludes.