The 9pm TV Watershed

After months of campaigning by our incredible Youth Board, the Prime Minister announced tough new measures on how and when junk food can be advertised on 27th July. You can watch Tasha’s review of the announcements below:

As part of his widely anticipated Obesity Strategy that aims to tackle Britain's health crisis, Boris Johnson committed to protecting the health of millions of children by restricting what they see on their TV screens and online. 

Bite Back 2030 had written to the Government asking them to put the health of children and young people at the heart of British politics. COVID-19 has shown all of us why change must happen in our food system, to make it healthier and fairer for everyone. For decades advertisers have been making stars of unhealthy food, shining the spotlight on cheap, low nutrient products and encouraging us to overeat. That has to stop.

When Bite Back was launched in October 2019, we put out a film showing the influence of junk food advertising. We all think we are immune but the reality is that young people growing up in the UK are up against a flood of unhealthy food, at school, on our highstreets and on our screens.

Following the PM’s announcement, Bite Back 2030 Ambassador and male fashion model David Gandy said:

“This is fantastic news for the health of children and young people. As someone who has expressed concern that brands and people in the public eye need to think carefully about what is being promoted to children, today is a brilliant step forward. I commend the Prime minister and Department of Health for listening and for the measure to include online advertising, which is so important if we are serious about this matter.”

We hope that with the announcement and subsequent actions, the focus will shift away from junk and on to healthier alternatives. We believe that the end of 2022 is too far away and we are working with businesses to encourage them to go further and faster on child health. So watch this space.