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 physical advertising for unhealthy food products on levels of child obesity.

No assessment has been made of the potential impact of outdoor physical advertising for less healthy food and drink products on levels of child obesity. However, the Government welcomes recent action at a local level to ban junk food marketing across public transport networks and public spaces that are controlled locally.

Supporting people to stay healthier for longer is at the heart of the Government’s Health Mission. This includes taking bold action to tackle the childhood obesity crisis and create the healthiest generation of children ever.

The Government has committed to implementing the advertising restrictions set out in the Communications Act 2003 on less healthy food and drink products without further delay. The regulations introduce a 9:00pm watershed for the advertisement of less healthy food or drink products on television, and a total restriction of paid-for advertising of these products online, which will come into force United Kingdom-wide on 1 October 2025.

Evidence shows that these restrictions 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.