Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of out-of-home advertising of fast food on children and young people.

No assessment has been made of the potential impact of out-of-home advertising of fast food on children and young people.  We are however taking proportionate action, including restricting junk food advertising on TV and online, limiting the access of school children to fast food, and banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to under-16s.

Supporting people to stay healthier for longer is at the heart of this government’s Health Mission which aims to reduce the amount of time spent in ill health, tackle health inequalities and drive economic growth.

Evidence shows that the restrictions on junk food advertising on TV and online alone will have a direct impact on childhood obesity by reducing children’s exposure to advertising of less healthy products. We estimate that these restrictions will remove up to 7.2 billion calories from children’s diets per year in the UK and reduce the number of children living with obesity by 20,000.