As a consequence of self-regulation rather than more stringent safeguards, food and beverage marketing has not helped curb childhood obesity, worldwide obesity taskforce reported (pdf).

The International Obesity Taskforce on Tuesday said some websites that attract children with advergames are being used to bypass stricter advertising standards in traditional media, reports Reuters from the 10th International Congress on Obesity in Sydney, Australia. "While it is relatively easy to control the content of television and print advertising, controlling the content on online advertising and 'advergames'…is a lot more complex," researchers at Britain's Middlesex University said.

The taskforce monitored commercial sites promoting food and beverages over a three-month period in 2005 and found that many advertisers merely pay lip service to codes of conduct; some sites actually pressure kids to buy before they play the online games. Some 12.2 million children visited the sites during the monitoring period.

Dr, Jo Salmon, Senior Research Fellow in the School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences at Deakin University in Australia, said her research found that 70 percent of 5-6-year-olds and 80 percent of 10- 12-year-olds exceeded the recommended two-hour daily limit for internet and TV entertainment.