Childhood Obesity

Thursday 22nd May 2025 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Ashley Dalton)]

This Government have set a bold ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children ever and take action to address the childhood obesity crisis. As part of this ambition, this Government made a manifesto commitment to implement advertising restrictions for less healthy food and drink on TV and online.

These restrictions are designed to reduce children’s exposure to less healthy products, based on evidence that they contribute to childhood obesity, as well as incentivise businesses to reformulate their products and help create a healthier food environment. Alongside this and in support of this Government’s growth mission, we want to deliver proportionate regulation that balances the health benefits with the impacts on businesses.

My statement on 7 April reconfirmed to the House the Government’s intentions that brand advertising is out of scope of the restrictions and that businesses will still have opportunities to promote their brands, provided that their adverts do not identify a specific less healthy product.

We have listened carefully to the concerns that industry stakeholders have raised around the Advertising Standards Authority’s implementation guidance. We are aware that many brands have prepared advertising campaigns in good faith ahead of the restrictions’ current coming into force date of 1 October 2025 and remain concerned about how these adverts will be affected by the ASA’s approach to implementation.

We want to support economic growth and ensure that industry has confidence to invest in advertising but, at the same time, protect children from advertising of less healthy products. To that end, I am announcing today that the Government intend to make and lay a statutory instrument to explicitly exempt “brand advertising” from the restrictions. The SI will provide legal clarification on this aspect of the existing policy, as it was understood and agreed by Parliament during the passage of the Health and Care Bill. This will enable the regulators to deliver clear implementation guidance and mean that industry can prepare advertising campaigns with confidence.

To allow time to consult on the draft SI, we will amend the formal date these restrictions come into force to 5 January 2026 instead of 1 October 2025. However, in agreement with the Government, advertisers and broadcasters, with the support of online platforms and publishers, have made a clear and public commitment to comply with the restrictions as though they would still come into force from 1 October 2025.

This means that, from 1 October 2025, and in line with Government’s policy intentions, we would expect adverts for specific identifiable less healthy products not to be shown on TV between 5.30 am and 9 pm or at any time online, and there will be legal clarification on “brand advertising” before the restrictions come into force legally on 5 January 2026, subject to parliamentary approval.

We welcome that industry stakeholders have made this commitment and are working with us to implement this important policy for children’s health. They have signed a letter which will be published today on the Advertising Association’s website and which I have also deposited in the Library of the House. I am grateful for the assistance of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport for working with us on securing these commitments.

This is a successful resolution that enables us to fulfil our manifesto commitment to implement this long-awaited policy while supporting businesses. The restrictions will help protect children from the harms of junk food advertising and help meet our ambition of raising the healthiest generation of children ever.

[HCWS652]