Katharine Jenner, director, Obesity Health Alliance Restricting advertisements for unhealthy food and drink is an essential step towards a healthier food environment, writes Katharine Jenner In October 2025 the UK will finally introduce restrictions on unhealthy food and drink advertising.1 After years of industry resistance and delays, these new regulations represent a pivotal moment in […]
- Katharine Jenner, director, Obesity Health Alliance
In October 2025 the UK will finally introduce restrictions on unhealthy food and drink advertising.1 After years of industry resistance and delays, these new regulations represent a pivotal moment in tackling the childhood obesity crisis. This bold, decisive action is long overdue.
Childhood obesity isn’t just a public health issue: it’s a national disgrace. Alarmingly, nearly 10% of children in England aged 4 to 5 are already obese, a figure that rises to 23% by ages 10 to 11.2 These statistics are indicators of an ongoing epidemic that leads to devastating long term health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer.3
The financial cost to the NHS of obesity related ill health is staggering, amounting to £11.4bn every year.4 But the human cost is even greater, as children living in deprived areas are twice as likely to be obese as their wealthier peers.2 There are stark inequalities across age groups, geographical areas, genders, ethnic groups, and children with mental or physical disabilities.56
Starting in October 2025, online advertisements for unhealthy food and drinks, including those on social media, will be banned completely, while television advertisements for these products will be allowed only after the 9 pm watershed. These restrictions focus on three key criteria. First, advertisements featuring identifiable unhealthy food or drink products will fall under the restrictions, but those showing only a brand name or logo without specific products will be exempt.
Second, the rules will target 13 food categories high in sugar, salt, and calories, such as sugary drinks, crisps, confectionery, sweetened cereals, and ice cream. Healthier items such as plain porridge oats and meal kits will be exempt if they meet government health standards.
Third, the government’s nutrient profiling model will underpin these restrictions, assessing products on the basis of their balance of nutrients to encourage reformulation.
Larger prevention strategy
These measures aim to reduce children’s exposure to the unhealthy food advertising that contributes to an “obesogenic” food environment. Despite the policy’s reasonable nature, it has faced a flurry of misinformation. Headlines claiming that everyday staples such as “crumpets and porridge” will be affected have only served to undermine this vital policy. In truth, only products unnecessarily loaded with excess sugar, salt, or fat will face restrictions. This approach incentivises manufacturers to make their products healthier—for example, by removing sugars—so that they will be able to advertise them again.
The government’s decision to prioritise children’s health over corporate profits is a huge step forward and should be commended, not belittled. This isn’t just about limiting adverts but about changing the food environment. Ensuring that children are exposed to healthier food options, while encouraging companies to reformulate products, could be transformative. These restrictions could potentially reduce obesity in 20 000 children a year.1 Over time the benefits could include £2bn in economic gains, £50m in NHS savings, and reductions in child health inequities throughout the UK.1 The restrictions on television and online advertising are just the first step in protecting children, and their parents, from the flood of unhealthy food advertising.
These rules are not a quick fix for childhood obesity, but they’re a critical part of a larger prevention strategy. Along with better food labelling, sugar reduction programmes, and healthier food placement in shops, restrictions on advertising are an essential step forward. Ongoing high quality, independent monitoring and evaluation will help ensure that the policy works effectively and can be adjusted to refine and close loopholes if needed.
With less than a year until the rules take effect, there’s still work to be done. Industry resistance and public misinformation are obstacles that we must challenge and overcome. These rules, if executed well, could set a powerful example as part of a global effort to prevent obesity, following the lead of countries such as Chile—which has banned cartoons on packaging of unhealthy products, restricted television advertising, and included warning labels on food—and Mexico and Norway, which have banned unhealthy food advertising in children’s programming. The path to a healthier future won’t be easy, but this is a crucial step in the right direction.
Restricting unhealthy food and drink advertising gives children a better chance to grow up in an environment that promotes, rather than compromises, their health. Let’s seize this opportunity, as our children deserve no less.
