A new ban on junk food advertising on television before 9 pm and online at all times came into force on Monday as part of the UK government’s crackdown on childhood obesity rates.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the ban on adverts for less healthy food and sugary drinks is expected to remove up to 7.2 billion calories from children’s diets each year.
It is also expected to reduce the number of children living with obesity by 20,000 and deliver around 2 billion pounds in benefits for the state-funded National Health Service (NHS) over time.
UK’s Minister for Health added that by restricting adverts for junk food before 9 pm and banning paid adverts online, we can remove excessive exposure to unhealthy foods making the healthy choice the easy choice for parents and children. We’re moving the dial from having the NHS treat sickness, to preventing it so people can lead healthier lives and so it can be there for us when we need it,” she said.
PTI
