Ms Kathryn Walsh:

I want to support Ms Twomey. The research that has been done is just those experimental pieces of research but I also mentioned some statistics in my opening presentation. For example, exposure to just 4.4 minutes of food advertising will increase a child's food consumption by 60 calories on average and playing advergames with food cues for five minutes increased consumption by 53.4 calories on average. The 2018 research from Cancer Research UK showed that each additional hour children spent using the Internet is associated with a 33% increased likelihood of buying junk food and drink. Children who use the Internet for over three hours per day are almost four times more likely to buy junk food products than children who use the Internet for little or no time. That is critical when we consider there has been a growth in online learning because of the pandemic. We know there is a link between food promotion and children's food preferences, what they buy and what they eat, and that has been proven since the 2003 Hastings review. That data is there in terms of the research that has been done by a number of universities and organisations.