THE FOOD Standards Agency (FSA) proposed a voluntary ban on allowing celebrities to promote unhealthy snacks earlier this month.
It pointed to the "clear evidence" that promotional activity influences children�s eating habits.
However, the FSA�s consumer committee has already expressed concerns on the reliance on voluntary regulation.
Levels of obesity have doubled among six-year-olds and trebled among 15-year-olds in the past decade, rates that continue to rise.
In Scotland, almost 20% of 12-year-olds are obese, and a third overweight.
Obesity is linked to health problems including diabetes, cancer and heart disease.
The FSA�s report called for the imbalance between the advertising of unhealthy and healthy food to be addressed, encouraging the use of promotions such as free gifts to boost the sale of food such as fruit.
It also suggested retailers move sweets, snacks and soft drinks from supermarket checkouts and replace them with healthier options.
Doctors have also recently called for a ban on all food advertising aimed at children under 12.
Medics told the British Medical Association�s annual conference last month that 99% of all food advertising during children�s television was for fatty or sugary foods, while the food industry spent �300m in 1999 on advertising unhealthy food, often using celebrities to raise the product�s profile.
However, some warned that since some children now watch television at any hour of the day, sterner measures are needed. Other countries have already proposed legislative action on this matter.
In Ireland, a draft code was proposed in April which would prohibit commercially driven celebrity endorsements of food and drink on television, and require a healthy eating message to be included in advertisements for fast food.
Adverts would have to include a spoken or written warning that junk food should be eaten in moderation, while confectionery adverts would be forced to show a toothbrush symbol on the screen.
In France, plans have been drawn up to force manufacturers to finance adverts carrying healthy eating messages for broadcast during the same viewing periods as unhealthy food adverts.
The draft Bill would also ban vending machines containing fizzy drinks and sweets from all educational premises.