Our columnist this week is Anbreen Mir, a 21-year-old who attends the University of Huddersfield.

Fast food chain Burger King is axing TV advertising aimed at children. This has been welcomed by health groups as it has been revealed that Britain is the fattest nation in Europe.

Obesity in children is a worrying issue and junk food companies have a responsibility to restrict advertising during children's programming. However, the restrictions do not include prime-time programmes, many of which are watched by children.

This leads to the issue of whether junk food advertising should be completely banned. TV watchdog Ofcom plans to restrict junk food advertising and the Food Standards Agency wants a total ban before the 9pm watershed but this would mean lost advertising revenue for broadcasters.

Pepsi and Coca-Cola have stated they will not target young children in their advertising which includes magazines, websites or between TV programmes. However, many of Pepsi's previous campaigns have seen celebrities endorse the drink, more recently David Beckham.

Although reducing the amount of junk food advertising is a step forward in tackling obesity more needs to be done to help children become healthier.

Food in schools needs to be improved and the campaign by Jamie Oliver needs to spread throughout the country. Also, children should be encouraged to play sports and to exercise from an early age. In a world where computer games are very popular, children have become less interested in being fit and active.

Education in schools is another way to help children choose a healthier lifestyle and to warn them about the dangers of eating too much junk food. Children as young as 13 are being diagnosed with diabetes due to a poor diet and this is a worrying glimpse in to the future for those who do not have healthy lifestyles.

The Government's recent campaign to try and encourage people to eat five portions of fruit or vegetable a day has been unsuccessful as consumption has fallen.

So where does the responsibility lie for children to eat healthy? Some fast food companies are being blamed for using cartoon characters to promote unhealthy foods. Parents are finding it difficult to say no to children because of pester power and think the use of cartoon characters is irresponsible.

The huge amount of junk food available indicates the kind of society we live in. Fast food is convenient and it is much easier to feed a child a burger than to cook a healthy meal.

Parents should be aware that a home-cooked meal is more beneficial in terms of nutritional value compared to junk food, which has no benefits at all.

  • Do you want to write for our Voice of Youth column? We're looking for young people in Bradford with something to say for themselves. Your article will need to be 550-600 words long and we'll need a recent photo of you. Send your columns to Voice of Youth, Telegraph & Argus Features Dept, Hall Ings, Bradford, BD1 1Jr. Alternatively, you can e-mail to editorial.features@bradford. newsquest.co.uk, attaching a jpeg format photo of yourself.