Every day we are bombarded with junk food advertisements — we see them on our phones, on social media, websites and TV. We see them everywhere we go. It’s relentless.
Junk food companies spend millions every year keeping their unhealthy food and drink in the spotlight. This has a very real impact. Right now, the health of 1 in 3 children is at risk from the food they eat — with young people from poorest families most affected.
For years, we said: we’ve #AdEnough. It’s time to protect child health. And our efforts paid off! The Government committed to end junk food advertising online and on TV before 9pm. They even wrote this promise into law which was supposed to come into force in January 2023.
But then Boris Johnson delayed this vital legislation until 2024 and now, Rishi Sunak has delayed it further until 2025. 2025?! The Government says they want to give big food companies more time to prepare. Are you having a laugh? They’ve already had 2 years, 4 months and 12 days since this policy was originally announced. That’s 28 months. 123 weeks. 864 days. 20,370 hours. In this time, some of us have done our GCSEs, A-levels, turned 18 and gone onto university.
The Prime Minister is playing politics with our futures, and our health. Whose side is he really on? Children or big food companies?
This is an #AttackOnHealth. We need to flood the inboxes of MPs with outrage about this decision — to show the Government there is a political cost to ignoring child health. Your voice can make a difference: please email your MP today and ask them to a raise this issue in parliament.
