Can we really trust what our children are being taught?

Earlier this month, around 10 million children headed back to school to start another academic year. Along with the traditional three Rs, they will receive education, guidance and support on a wide range of social and emotional topics under the umbrella of the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum.

In the UK, the alcohol, gambling, and unhealthy food and beverage industries fund a range of so-called ‘prevention education programmes’ aimed at children and young people, including many that are adopted by schools as part of their RSHE programmes.

The materials, which are designed to capture children’s imagination and are even sometimes badged with big industry logos, help to normalise harmful behaviours, leave out or misrepresent important risks, and shift responsibility for harm onto individuals, including children and young people, and away from the industries and their practices.

I think most people would agree that one of the main jobs of schools is to protect children from harm. I would even go as far as saying that few people would disagree that children’s education – and indeed lives – should be protected from the harmful influence of commercial interests. Not only is it unethical, but it is also a vital part of an evidence-based approach to addressing the record levels of ill-health and harm we are seeing that is caused by consumption of harmful products.

89% of deaths in England alone are caused by illnesses that are often linked to the consumption of harmful products like unhealthy food and drink. The simple fact is that these deaths, including from many cancers, respiratory, heart and liver disease, are preventable and are often a result of many years of consumption that begins in childhood.

It makes sense then that we do more to protect our children and while I am absolutely not saying that teachers are intentionally using industry-funded materials, or that children are being given access to unhealthy products, they are being subjected to industry influence.

There is a wealth of evidence to show that these materials serve the interests of their commercial funders. Research also shows that some of the industry-funded materials and organisations that provide them make unsupported claims about their evidence base and effectiveness in safeguarding children.

These tactics echo the well documented strategies used over the years by the tobacco and fossil fuel industries to manipulate wider public understanding and maintain industry-favourable, but ineffective, regulations. As TV Dr and Professor of Infection and Global Health, Chris van Tulleken, says:

“We wouldn’t let Big Tobacco teach children about smoking. So why are we allowing the alcohol, gambling, and junk food industries into classrooms? Allowing these industries into schools distorts learning and helps industry establish the next generation of customers.”

Industry-funded education programmes allow corporations to claim that they are addressing public health concerns while simultaneously undermining evidence-based interventions, such as controls on the availability, accessibility and affordability of harmful products.

In short, industry influenced education resources put children’s health at risk.

It makes sense to tackle this issue now, at a time when the Government is overhauling our health system to prevent ill health, reduce inequalities, and ensure every child can thrive. Health is after all, not just about what happens in the NHS, it is actually mostly about the influence of factors in our wider environment, including school.

Addressing this influence is not just wanted by the public health profession – a recent poll found that 76% of parents with secondary school-aged children believe that the Government should take action to prevent influence on youth education by the gambling and alcohol industries.

What is needed is an end to industry influence in schools as is the case in Ireland where official guidance stipulates that schools should only use independently produced materials. Such a move obviously also needs to be backed by support for schools to source and use these materials – and alongside wider measures to protect children and young people from commercial influence in all spheres of life. Afterall, if we really want to keep our children safe, we need to make the world a safe place for them.

Great strides are being made at a local level, thanks to partnership working between public health teams, local councils, businesses, voluntary organisations – and schools. The Government, who have committed to introducing a ban on junk food ads on tv and the internet, are also helping to tackle the issue at a national level.

However, bans and restrictions will never be truly effective until they are being implemented consistently across all forms of marketing in all places – and that includes industry-backed education programmes in schools.