RCoA responds to proposals on restricting promotions and advertising of products high in fat, sugar and salt

Obese children are more likely to become obese adults, and obesity in adulthood increases an individual’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, fatty liver disease and a number of cancers.

This leads to more complications and worse outcomes after surgery. As stated in the introduction, perioperative medicine wants to address this by getting adult patients fit for surgery through increasing exercise, improved diet, weight loss and optimising diabetes treatment.

But the adoption of healthy lifestyles must start in childhood in order to last through adulthood. We therefore welcome the Government’s proposals for restricting promotions and advertising for products high in fat, and salt sugar. This is a positive step towards the Government’s ambition of halving childhood obesity by 2030.

As members of the Obesity Health Alliance, we support the Alliance’s policy positions on the proposals in the two consultations as outlined below:

• a 9pm – 5:30am watershed on broadcast TV for products high in fat, sugar and salt
• a 9pm-5:30am watershed online for products high in fat, sugar and salt
• restrictions on multi-buy promotions on food and drink high in fat, sugar and salt
• restrictions on the promotion of food and drinks high in fat, sugar and salt from prominent locations such as shop entrances, aisle ends and checkouts.