Whitty backs Telegraph’s stand against junk-food advertising
Prof Chris Whitty has accused junk-food advertising within sport of harming efforts to combat the obesity crisis, following a Daily Telegraph investigation.
England’s chief medical officer became the biggest name to denounce the promotion of fatty and sugary food and drinks brands.
He cited the findings of an investigation by The Telegraph that revealed how a rise in junk-food advertising in sport had coincided with increases in unhealthy eating and inactivity during a year of national lockdowns.
Those findings sparked calls for curbs, particularly within children’s sport, something Prof Whitty suggested would help reverse the tide of rising obesity levels.
In a lecture at Gresham College, in central London, entitled What Can We Do About Rising Obesity?, Prof Whitty used a slide featuring The Telegraph investigation and the sports sponsorships it highlighted.
“All the companies sell foods that
people want, but they are very high calorie – often calorie-dense foods – and they’re associating it with sport, which is actually an unhelpful thing, particularly for younger people,” Prof Whitty said. He added that vulnerable people were being “bombarded” by “huge” marketing of unhealthy products, and cited restrictions on sports advertising and direct advertising to children as “possible” state interventions.
Prof Whitty highlighted the Sugar Tax as a “very small state intervention” that had made a positive impact. His intervention came two days after Uefa was accused of risking fuelling the UK’S coronavirus obesity crisis by signing Just Eat as an official partner – including for its youth competitions.
“It’s good to see a growing acknowledgement of the damaging impact of junk-food advertising on the health of the nation and, specifically, children,” Prof Dame Parveen Kumar, the British Medical Association’s board of science chair, said. “This intervention from the chief medical officer surely strengthens the case for tighter controls on junk-food advertising.”