Council set to impose ban on junk food advertising following petition by Youth Council
Over 50% of adverts on Bridge Street were found to be advertising foods high in fat, salt and sugar.
Peterborough City Council is set to ban the advertising of food high in fat, salt and sugar on all council land and advertising boards following a petition from the city’s Youth Council.
The policy was signed off for adoption by the city council’s cabinet at a meeting on Monday (June 17).
The youth council presented a petition for council scrutiny in November calling for the ban with members complaining about the number of junk food adverts they come across walking to school, adding that young people were “bombarded with junk food ads and left to deal with the consequences of obesity and poor mental health on their own."
Since then, a task and finish group has been working on drafting such a policy.
Figures from the 2021/22 academic year state that 22% of receptions age pupils were overweight with that number rising to 41.2% for Year 6 children; 26% of these were classed of obese and 7.1% severely obese.
The draft of the policy states: “There is significant evidence that restrictions on advertising may influence behaviour in respect of the consumption of unhealthy food and drinks.
"Peterborough City Council aims to improve the population’s health by the restrictions set out in this policy, which are considered proportionate to the legitimate aims of this policy.
"Evidence shows that advertisements for unhealthy food and drink products directly and indirectly impact what we eat. Both children and adults from lower socio-economic groups are 50% more likely to be exposed to such advertisements.
"This is concerning for Peterborough as it is in the most deprived 20% of local authorities in England, and the percentage of Year 6 pupils classed as overweight or obese in 2022/23 was 38.5%, which is significantly higher than the England average of 35.2%.”
Analysis taken from September and October 2023 that of all 27 adverts seen on Bridge Street, 56% were for food and drink high in fat, salt and sugar.
Eight local authorities in the country have already imposed a similar ban.