The government has introduced new advertising restrictions in a bid to tackle childhood obesity.
A ban on junk food advertising before 9pm on TV, alongside a total ban on paid online adverts, came into force today (Monday 5th January) as part of efforts to reduce children’s exposure to unhealthy food.
Under the new rules, which will be enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), 13 categories of food and drink high in fat, sugar and salt can no longer be advertised.
The government predicts the restrictions will remove up to 7.2bn calories from children’s diets each year and reduce the number of kids living with obesity by 20,000. What’s more, the plan is estimated to deliver around £2bn in health benefits.
Currently, 22.1% of children in England are overweight or obese when they start primary school and this figure rises to 35.8% by the time they leave.
Minister for health Ashley Dalton said the changes were part of a broader shift towards prevention.
‘We promised to do everything we can to give every child the best and healthiest start in life,” Dalton said. ‘By restricting adverts for junk food before 9pm and banning paid adverts online, we can remove excessive exposure to unhealthy foods.
‘We’re moving the dial from having the NHS treat sickness, to preventing it so people can lead healthier lives and so it can be there for us when we need it.’
Anna Taylor, executive director of the Food Foundation campaign group, has also welcomed the news.
‘Today marks a big, world leading milestone on the journey to protect children from being exposed to the onslaught of junk food advertising which is currently so harmful to their health,’ she said.
Although the rules officially take effect today, the UK advertising industry has voluntarily followed restrictions since October to ensure ads are shorn of products that breach the government’s complex regulations.
As a result, recent Christmas advertising campaigns focused on low-fat, low-sugar and low-salt products, with traditional festive items such as puddings and sweet treats replaced by fruit and vegetables.
Nevertheless, the rules also restrict advertising for some foods often considered healthy, including ‘sandwiches of any kind’, pretzels and ‘all products predominantly found in the breakfast cereal aisle’, such as porridge oats and muesli.
Last year, the government allowed companies including McDonald’s and Cadbury to run brand-only adverts, provided no identifiable products were shown. However, this led to threats of legal action from the food industry.
Taylor said the decision was ‘likely to significantly weaken’ the impact of the new rules. She added: ‘We can’t stop here, we must remain focused on the goal: banning all forms of junk food advertising to children.’
Plans for the ban were first proposed under Boris Johnson’s government in 2020 and were originally due to be implemented by 2023.
Image: Jurij Kenda/UnSplash
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