The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Calls for ban on unhealthy food adverts
Eight out of 10 adults support a ban on advertising unhealthy food to children on TV and online, new research for the Obesity Health Alliance (OHA) suggests.
The collection of charities and health organisations, which includes the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, Association of Directors of Public Health, Diabetes UK, Cancer Research UK, the British Medical Association and the Faculty of Public Health, is calling on the government to increase its commitment to tackling obesity.
In December, the government announced it was delaying a ban on junk food advertising before 9pm, to the dismay of health and obesity campaigners.
The new Yougov survey of more than 2,000 people for the Obesity Health Alliance found 79% support a TV ban of unhealthy food to children while 81% said the same about online.
The poll also found 68% would support food firms being taxed for unhealthy foods if the money was spent on children’s health programmes.
Similarly, 79% think the government should be doing more to make sure healthy food is affordable during the cost-of-living crisis, while 77% think the cash raised by the current sugar tax on soft drinks should be used directly to fund programmes aimed at improving children’s health.
The OHA said it is “deeply concerned” that unless bold action is taken, health inequalities across the UK will continue to grow and obesity will “pile” even more pressure on the NHS.
It is preparing to present MPS from the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats with manifesto letters for the next general election, saying there is a “massive opportunity” to protect child health.
More results from the poll showed that 60% of adults think advertising unhealthy food impacts on how much people buy, while 58% would support their local council using planning laws to reduce the number of unhealthy food outlets in their local area.
Katharine Jenner, director of the OHA, said: “Today we have written to the potential next prime minister of the country with a simple request to put children’s health first, address Britain’s obesity crisis and redesign a broken food system that puts profit before health.”