Today marks a significant milestone for child health with the implementation of the Less Healthy Advertising Regulations across television and online media. These regulations have been a longstanding policy priority for the Obesity Health Alliance (OHA) since its establishment.
The policy has been under development for several years, having first been confirmed in the Government’s Obesity Strategy in July 2020, following preparatory work that began in 2018. Despite this, implementation was subject to repeated delays by the previous Government, initially postponed from October 2022 to January 2023, and subsequently deferred further from January 2023 to October 2025.
Katharine Jenner, Executive Director of the Obesity Health Alliance, responds:
“It’s been one battle after another, but we are finally going to see children being protected from the worst offending junk food adverts. This is a welcome and long-awaited step towards better protecting children from unhealthy food and drink advertising that can harm their health and wellbeing. These new restrictions will help reduce children’s exposure to the most problematic adverts and mark real progress towards a healthier food environment.
“For the Government to achieve its ambition of raising the healthiest generation ever, this is an important policy as part of a broader approach to preventing obesity-related ill health. Continuing to strengthen the rules over time will help ensure these protections remain effective.”
The Obesity Health Alliance would like to thank its member organisations for their continued support over the past seven years. The introduction of these regulations represents the culmination of a sustained and collective effort, made possible by the commitment and expertise of the Alliance’s members.
In the coming days, the Obesity Health Alliance will continue to recognise this important milestone while also setting out the further actions required from Government to ensure the legislation achieves its intended impact.
The full press release, including quotes from our Executive Director and members of the OHA, can be found here.
Listen back to Kat’s interview BBC Breakfast on Monday 5th January below.
The Obesity Health Alliance is available for comment. Media enquiries should be directed to press@obesityhealthalliance.org.uk.
Quotes from OHA members
Colette Marshall, Chief Executive at Diabetes UK, said:
“With type 2 diabetes on the rise in young people, the need to improve children’s health in the UK has never been greater. Obesity is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes, and the condition can lead to more severe consequences in young people – leaving them at risk of serious complications like kidney failure and heart disease.
The long-awaited move to restrict junk food advertising – along with other measures such as mandatory healthy food sales reporting for businesses and the extension of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy – can help protect the health of our children, creating a future where conditions like type 2 diabetes can be prevented in young people.”
Farid (17), Bite Back Activist, said:
“Today is a milestone moment – one that young people across the UK have been campaigning for over many years. We welcome the government taking action to put children’s health front and centre, to protect young people from the predatory and manipulative marketing of unhealthy food by junk food giants.
“These new rules are an important first step that begins to rip down the wallpaper of junk food advertising that surrounds young people on TV and online every day. We’re proud to see this change finally happen. But this cannot be the end. Young people are energised to keep pushing, working hard to make 2026 the year we fully transform the environments children grow up in.”
Malcolm Clark, Senior Policy Manager at Cancer Research UK, said:
“The world around us heavily influences what we eat and drink, which is why Cancer Research UK has long campaigned for restrictions on advertising unhealthy foods to children.
“Measures announced today – if properly enforced – are a crucial step towards creating an environment that protects children and empowers healthy lifestyle changes.
“Obesity and overweight causes at least 13 different types of cancer, and children living with obesity are much more likely to live with obesity as adults too. The UK Government must build on this landmark legislation with further bold action to make a healthy diet more accessible and reduce people’s risk of cancer in the future.”
Cllr Dr Wendy Taylor MBE, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Health and Wellbeing Committee, said:
“This is a positive step towards creating healthier environments for children and tackling childhood obesity.
“Childhood obesity remains one of the most significant public health challenges we face, driving health inequalities and placing a significant cost burden on the NHS and wider society. These measures are an important part of a whole systems approach, alongside local action to improve access to healthy food and opportunities for physical activity.
“We are pleased to see that these measures complement other public health initiatives, such as the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which together signal a strong commitment to prevention and improving health outcomes.
Alice Wiseman MBE, Vice President of the Association of Directors of Public Health, said:
“The vast majority of deaths in this country are caused by preventable illnesses and disease, including many cancers, respiratory, heart and liver disease. These illnesses are often linked to the consumption of harmful products like unhealthy food and drink, but this is not the result of personal choice.
“The reality is that what we eat and drink is heavily influenced by cheap prices and clever marketing campaigns backed by multi-million pound budgets. We simply don’t have the freedom to choose.
“There is no quick fix, but we know from our experience of tackling tobacco harm, that one of the key ways to reduce illness and death caused by harmful products is to introduce tighter restrictions on advertising those products.
“There is of course further to go, but today’s legislation is a significant and welcome step forward in protecting people from industry influence and reducing the number of people living with – and dying from – preventable illness and disease.”
Dr Kath McCullough, special adviser on obesity at the Royal College of Physicians, said:
“After years of delay, government has taken a step in the right direction and challenged the previously unchecked advertising of junk food to children. The Royal College of Physicians has long called for these protections: children should not be constantly exposed to the aggressive marketing of unhealthy food and drink which influences and shapes diets, driving obesity.
“While these regulations go some way in shifting the balance away from commercial interests and back towards children’s health, we were disappointed to see industry successfully lobby for their watering down on brand advertising. It is not just junk food, but the well-known brands children associate them with that should have fallen under this legislation.
“The success of the restrictions coming into force today will rely on strong monitoring and enforcement. If the goal is to make real progress on childhood obesity and reduce pressure on the NHS, this cannot be the end point. There are a range of other things government must do: ending brand exemption and regulating against the very real risk that advertising simply migrates elsewhere, such as outdoors, leaving some children, particularly those in more deprived areas, no better protected. The regulations need to be strengthened and built on over the course of this Parliament, so that children are protected from unhealthy food and drink advertising wherever they encounter it.”
Corin Bell, CEO at Alexandra Rose Vouchers said:
“Nobody should have to run a gauntlet of bus stop ads promoting fast food and fizzy drinks every time they leave their home. If we really want to create a food environment that supports health, we need to tackle the bombardment of adverts for food that damages health.”
Sonia Pombo, Head of Research and Impact at Action on Salt said:
“Today’s restrictions are an encouraging step towards creating healthier food environments and rightly recognises the inherent role of the food industry in driving poor diets. Whilst we welcome this win, it is hard to ignore what could have been achieved had the policy not been weakened by years of relentless industry lobbying and manipulation tactics. Our children deserve to be protected from the influence that Big Food have on their plates. Let’s hope the government can learn from this moment, and from stronger policies that have worked before, to deliver effective action.“
Nicola Calder, Food Active Programme Lead said:
“This is an important and welcome step towards creating healthier food environments for children. For too long, families have been navigating a landscape where unhealthy food marketing is pervasive and persistent. These restrictions begin to rebalance that environment, but they must be seen as the foundation, not the finish line. To genuinely reduce inequalities and support prevention, we need to address the remaining loopholes and ensure that protections apply across all the spaces where children live, learn and spend their time.”