Britain's advertising watchdog says commercials depicting hapless husbands and housework-burdened mums may be bad for the nation's health.

The Advertising Standards Authority said it would impose tighter regulation on what it called harmful gender stereotyping.

The regulator said a "tougher line'' was needed on ads that featured stereotypical gender roles, including those which mock people for not conforming.

Gender stereotyping in advertising is out in the UK.

Such ads restrict "the choices, aspirations and opportunities of children, young people and adults,'' it said.

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The watchdog, which had previously banned ads for suggesting it was desirable for young women to be unhealthily thin, said it wouldn't ban all stereotypes, such as women cleaning or men doing home improvement jobs.

123RF An ad that shows a woman solely doing the housework would be banned under the new advertising regulations in the UK.

But ads that depict a woman having sole responsibility for cleaning up the family's mess, or showing "a man trying and failing to undertake simple parental or household tasks,'' could be banned.

So could commercials suggesting a specific activity is inappropriate for boys because it is stereotypically associated with girls, or vice versa.

The report cited several ads viewers had complained about, including one for baby formula Aptamil in which a girl was shown growing up to be a ballerina and boys to be engineers and rock climbers.

123RF Is this bad for our health?

The standards authority does not have the power to impose fines, but British broadcasters are bound by the terms of their licenses to comply with its rulings.

Ella Smillie, lead author of a report for the watchdog, said gender stereotypes in advertising "can limit how people see themselves, how others see them, and limit the life decisions they take.''

Last month a group of firms including household-products giant Unilever launched the Unstereotype Alliance, a United Nations-backed campaign to banish gender stereotypes in advertising.