Response to the UK Government's announcement of their new Obesity Strategy

We welcome the UK Government’s plan to introduce a 9pm watershed for adverts of foods high in fat, sugar and/or salt, both on TV and online. 

We are delighted to see this action being taken on this reserved matter and welcome and support the announcement.

We also welcome announcement of a consultation on alcohol calorie labelling before the end of the year. We have been calling for calorie information on alcoholic drinks to be made mandatory, just like for any food or drink product. 

Lorraine Tulloch, Programme Lead at Obesity Action Scotland says: 

“We are delighted that the UK Government has committed to taking action to protect children from incessant TV and online advertising of junk foods. This is an important step in creating the right food environments to ensure the healthy choice is the easy choice and to ensure our children can grow up with a healthy weight. We know that 74% of adults in Scotland indicated support for such a move so it is great to see a commitment to implementation.” 

Notes 

Public polling undertaken in May 2019 of 1007 Scottish adults indicated that 74% of respondents would support a ban on junk food adverts being shown on TV before 9pm.  Find out more at: https://www.obesityactionscotland.org/media/1298/report-public-support-for-restricting-the-advertising-of-junk-food.pdf