LONDON: BBC Magazines will launch what it claims is the UK’s only parenting magazine aimed at parents of children aged from one to 12. BBC Parenting will make its debut at the news stand on 11 September 2003.

The magazine aims at filling a gap in the market. An official release informs that the majority of the 30+ parenting titles in the marketplace serve the parents of babies and none is aimed at parents of children older than seven.

BBC Parenting’s MD Pamela Janson-Smith was quoted as saying: “We are going to go where no other title has dared to go and serve all parents of toddlers to 12-year-olds. We’ll talk about the wonder as well as the worry of parenting. The intention is to be a reliable and useful friend to mums and dads.”

BBC Parenting replaces Parentwise - a small, independent title acquired by BBC Magazines earlier this year. With an initial print-run of 100,000 and 132 pages, BBC Parenting will feature celebrity parents, education, childcare, health, fashion, lifestyle, sex, family relationships, gardening, food, travel, entertainment and much more.

BBC Magazines is a division of BBC Worldwide Ltd, the commercial consumer arm of the BBC. It claims to be the UK’s third largest consumer magazines publisher, with a portfolio of more than 30 regular titles for adults, teenagers and children and a combined circulation of 4.2 million (ABC: July to December 2002).