Paediatricians criticise delay in plans to ban junk food adverts
Fiona Simpson
Tuesday, May 17, 2022
“Disappointing” government plans to delay a ban on junk food adverts on TV and online will slow efforts to tackle rising childhood obesity, paediatricians have warned.
Currently one in four children living in the UK are overweight by the age of five, according to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), with those living in deprived areas worst affected.
Despite these figures, the Department for Health and Social Care has announced plans to delay a ban on adverts promoting deals on foods and drinks high in fat, salt, or sugar for a year.
Dr Max Davie, paediatrician and RCPCH officer for health improvement said: “It is disappointing to see the government go back on its policies to address junk food marketing. “We have epidemic levels of child obesity across the UK and given the far-reaching health effects of obesity, we are storing up huge problems for children and young people. The policies were a crucial step to addressing these issues.
“Nearly one in four children in the UK are overweight by age five. It’s also a levelling up issue; across each of the four UK nations, children living in the most deprived areas are up to four times more likely to be severely obese than those living in the least deprived areas.”
The ban, which extends to paid-for online adverts and TV adverts shown before 9pm, will now be implemented in January 2024.
This is due to a delay to the Health and Care Bill receiving Royal Assent, as well as “a growing recognition that the industry needs more time to prepare” for the changes in the face of rising costs of living, ministers have said.
Other measures included in government plans to tackle increasing levels of obesity such as restrictions on the location of unhealthy food in shops will still go ahead in October 2022, the DHSC has insisted.
The government first published its strategy to tackle obesity rates in May 2021.
Meanwhile, a study by the University of Bristol finds that children’s physical activity levels fell below national guidelines during the Covid-19 lockdowns and did not recover when restrictions ended.
According to researchers, 10- and 11-year-olds took part in around eight minutes less moderate to vigorous physical activity on weekdays between April and December last year compared with children of a similar age before the pandemic.
Russ Jago, professor of physical activity and public health, said the findings “highlight a greater need to work with children, families, schools, and communities to maximise the opportunities for children to be physically active, as we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic.”
