Junk food adverts to be banned from the Tube under plans to tackle child obesity
Junk food adverts are set to be banned from the London Underground under new proposals unveiled by Sadiq Khan.
The plans include a ban on all adverts for food and drink high in fat, salt or sugar across the entire Transport for London network, including buses, Metro reported.
They have been introduced to tackle what the mayor of London describes as a ‘ticking timebomb’ of child obesity.
Shockingly, almost 40 percent of 10 and 11-year-olds living in the capital are either overweight or obese.
Khan said: ‘If we don’t take bold steps against it we are not doing right by our young people as well as placing a huge strain on our already pressurized health service in years to come.
‘It can’t be right that in a city as prosperous as London that where you live and the income you have can have a massive impact on whether you have access to healthy, nutritious food and your exposure to junk food advertising.
‘I’m determined to do all I can to tackle this issue with the powers I have and help Londoners make healthy food choices for themselves and their families.
‘That is why I’m proposing to ban adverts for harmful junk food from our entire Tube and bus network. I want to reduce the influence and pressure that can be put on children and families to make unhealthy choices.’
There is a huge disparity in child obesity rates across the capital depending on where a child is growing up.
Young people from Barking and Dagenham in east London are almost twice as likely to be overweight as their counterparts from Richmond in west London.
The draft London Food Strategy also includes a proposal to ban new hot food takeaways from opening within 400 meters of schools.
Khan also wants extra funding to develop plans by London boroughs to make better food more widely available.
Jamie Oliver has described the plans as a ‘bold step forward for child health in London’.