From next month, junk food advertising will be banned from television programmes made for pre-school children and programmes likely to appeal to children aged under nine, following a ruling last week by the media regulator Ofcom.
However, childrens organisations criticised Ofcom for not going far enough in its review of junk food promotion to children because it did not agree to a ban on all such advertising before 9pm, which campaigners had demanded.
They also criticised Ofcom for the decision to phase in the changes gradually.
The media regulator has also banned advertising of products with a high fat, salt and sugar content during television programmes aimed at children under 16 from 1 January next year.
This means that programmes with a higher than average number of viewers under 16, such as The Simpsons, will be affected.
Jo Butcher, assistant director of the National Childrens Bureau, said that the plans fell seriously short of what was needed to fight obesity and that loopholes remained for advertisers to force junk advertising on to television screens.
She said, Chancellor Gordon Brown has made clear his desire to do something about advertising before the 9pm watershed the Government must now make clear their willingness to act.
The final statement on Television Advertising of Food and Drink Products to Children can be found at the website www.ofcom.org.uk.