Junk food adverts are banned on television and online starting on Monday as part of a drive to tackle childhood obesity.<\/p>\n
The UK-wide ban stops food and drinks high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) being advertised on TV before 21:00 and at any time online.<\/p>\n
It applies to products considered to be the biggest drivers of childhood obesity, including soft drinks, chocolates and sweets, pizzas and ice creams.<\/p>\n
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) said it is committed to helping people eat healthily and has been voluntarily abiding by the new restrictions since October.<\/p>\n
As well as more obviously unhealthy foods, the ban also covers some breakfast cereals and porridges, sweetened bread products, and main meals and sandwiches.<\/p>\n
Decisions over which products fall under the ban are based on a scoring tool, balancing their nutrient levels against whether they are high in saturated fat, salt, or sugar.<\/p>\n
Plain oats and most porridge, muesli and granola are not banned under the crackdown, but some versions with added sugar, chocolate or syrup could be affected.<\/p>\n
Firms can still promote healthier versions of banned products, which the government hopes will lead to food makers developing healthier recipes.<\/p>\n
The ban only covers adverts in which unhealthy products can be seen by viewers, meaning fast-food firms will still be able to advertise using their brand name.<\/p>\n
Previously, HFSS food and drink adverts were banned on any platform where more than a quarter of the audience was under 16.<\/p>\n
Firms that do not comply with the new rules risk action by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).<\/p>\n
NHS data shows almost one in 10 (9.2%) reception-aged children are now living with obesity, while one in five children have tooth decay by the age of five.<\/p>\n
It is estimated obesity costs the NHS more than \u00a311bn every year.<\/p>\n
Evidence shows children’s exposure to ads for unhealthy food can influence what they eat from a young age, in turn putting them at greater risk of becoming overweight or obese.<\/p>\n
The government estimates the ad ban will prevent around 20,000 cases of childhood obesity.<\/p>\n
Katherine Brown, professor of behaviour change in health at the University of Hertfordshire, said the ban was \u00ab\u00a0long overdue and a move in the right direction\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
She said: \u00ab\u00a0Children are highly susceptible to aggressive marketing of unhealthy foods and exposure to them puts them at greater risk of developing obesity and associated chronic diseases.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Ms Brown called for the government to make nutritious options \u00ab\u00a0more affordable, accessible and appealing\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
The FDF said manufacturers are \u00ab\u00a0committed to working in partnership with the government and others to help people make healthier choices\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
It added: \u00ab\u00a0Investing in developing healthier products has been a key priority for food and drink manufacturers for many years and as a result, our members’ products now have a third of the salt and sugar and a quarter of the calories than they did ten years ago.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
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Junk food adverts are banned on television and online starting on Monday as part of a drive to tackle childhood obesity. The UK-wide ban stops food and drinks high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) being advertised on TV before 21:00 and at any time online. It applies to products considered to be the biggest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9610","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9610\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}