Children’s Health: Ultra-processed Foods

Baroness Merron Excerpts

Wednesday 25th October 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

My Lords, I start by congratulating the noble Baroness, Lady Jenkin, on securing a debate on what is clearly an extremely live issue, as we have heard in the many contributions from noble Lords today. There is one point of agreement, at least in the Chamber, and that is that rising obesity is damaging our children’s health and their chances in life. In 2021-22, more than one in 10 four to five year- olds were obese, while a further 12.1% were overweight. Nearly one in four 10 to 11 year-olds was obese, with a further 14.3% being overweight. Those from deprived areas are more than twice as likely to be living with obesity compared with the more affluent, and this is not an acceptable state of affairs.

We know that balance is essential to a healthy diet and that, for most people, cutting out ultra-processed foods entirely is not realistic. As we have heard, people need to be supported to make informed, healthier choices, and wider social determinants—most notably poverty, as the noble Lord, Lord Bird, said—need to be addressed, particularly in the current economic crisis, but the Government have missed some tricks here. They have delayed the ban on junk food advertisements targeted at children and scrapped the health disparities White Paper.

Can the Minister explain how the Government’s decisions will contribute to tackling childhood obesity and improving the health of the nation? In delaying these key measures, have the Government instead got any plans for further policies to address this issue?

In July, the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition published the findings of a review into the potential impact of ultra-processed foods on children’s health. It cited limitations in available evidence and recommended that further research should be undertaken in several areas, including in assessing and developing a classification system that can be applied reliably to estimate processed food consumption. As the noble Baroness, Lady Jenkin, said, the First Steps Nutrition Trust found a strong inverse correlation between the consumption of ultra-processed foods and the nutritional quality of diets. It said also that those who eat a diet rich in UPFs were consuming more calories, mainly due to larger portion sizes, which resulted in weight and body-fat gain. These are important points and I ask the Minister for the Government’s response to these findings, and when can we expect it?

The Health Minister Neil O’Brien MP said that the Government would not hesitate to take action if the evidence suggested that it was needed. In July, the Minister told your Lordships’ House that it was unclear whether UPFs were inherently unhealthy or whether the issue was instead that such foods were typically high in calories, saturated fat, salt and sugar. As the Minister clearly considers that there is uncertainty, what steps will the Government take in order to take action, rather than relying on inaction?