British authorities intend to ban advertising of unhealthy foods and drinks – on the Internet and on television screens – during the day, in an effort to combat obesity among children.
The government announced on Thursday that the measure – part of the Labour Party’s election manifesto that brought Keir Starmer to power last July – will be implemented from October 1, 2025.
This announcement comes after the Prime Minister’s statement yesterday in which he confirmed that he wants to reform the public health system, which is suffering from a serious crisis, by focusing more on prevention.
More than one in five children in England “are overweight or obese before they start primary school, and that figure rises to more than one in three” by the time they leave primary school, Andrew Gwynne, deputy minister of state for public health, said in a written statement to parliament.
He believed that this step “will contribute to protecting children from advertisements for unhealthy foods and drinks, as data indicates that they affect their food preferences from a very early age.”
The state is planning to impose a total ban on advertisements for very fatty or very sweet and salty foods before 9 p.m. on television and the Internet.
The measures were driven by Boris Johnson’s Conservative government, but the restrictions on junk food advertising have been delayed to give manufacturers in the sector more time to adapt.
The Labour government intends to take additional measures aimed at enhancing health protection, including banning the sale of energy drinks to anyone under the age of 16.