Should junk food advertising be banned? "Let's stop mental health care," says Daniel Riolo.

Limiting screen time could reduce junk food consumption in children , according to a study presented at the European Congress on Obesity.

For example, just five minutes of exposure to ads for foods high in fat, salt, or sugar can lead children to consume up to 130 extra calories a day—the equivalent of a small chocolate bar. Worse still, children with a higher BMI (body mass index) react even more strongly to this type of content.

It would therefore be necessary to limit children's access to screens and these advertisements to combat childhood obesity. This has been recommended since 2018 by the so-called "Gattolin" law, which prohibits advertisements on public service channels during programs intended for children under 12.

"Young people are strongly influenced by television, and this could impact the demands they make of their parents," Raphaël Gruman, a dietitian and nutritionist, assured RMC and RMC Story this Wednesday. "There's a need to educate both children and parents about food," he added, calling for parents to be made more responsible and reminding them that the goal of advertising remains to encourage people to buy products.

These injunctions make Daniel Riolo scream: "Either we remove junk food from sale, or it's allowed, but we stop and let people sort it out. If you're stupid enough to let yourself be brainwashed, you sort it out yourself. Enough with mental assistance for everything," he rants on the Estelle Midi set.

"Let's stop with these constant bans. Let's all manage their own lives, let's stop taking people by the hand and telling them what to do," adds Daniel Riolo.

The World Health Organization has been warning about the dangers of food marketing to children for over 10 years. And the figures are alarming: in 46 of the WHO's 53 European member states, more than half the population is overweight, including one in three children. This is a constantly worsening phenomenon.