The British government said Thursday it will bring in an evening watershed for junk food ads in a move to tackle the nation’s obesity problem.
The state-funded National Health Service (NHS) estimates that some 10 per cent of four- and five-year-olds are obese, a figure that climbs to 20.2 per cent for those aged 10 and 11, or one in five.
It adds that one in four adults are obese, with cheap, high-calorie foods blamed in part.
From the end of next year, television and on-demand channels will not be allowed to advertise food high in fat, sugar and salt before 9:00 pm.
Public health minister Jo Churchill said the new policy aimed to protect children from “unhealthy advertising” and “wipe billions off the national calorie count”.
It cited analysis of advertising from 2019 that found that almost 60 per cent of ads on the main commercial TV channels between 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm were for foods high in fat, sugar and salt.
There will be some exceptions for foods that fall in these categories but are relatively unprocessed and healthy — such as marmite or honey — and for small and medium-sized food businesses.
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