The Irish Heart Foundation is urging the Government to mirror the UK’s new junk food advertising ban, calling the move a crucial step to protect children’s health and tackle childhood obesity. The British regulations, billed by ministers as world-leading, restrict daytime TV advertising for products high in fat, salt or sugar and ban paid online adverts, with the aim of reducing children’s exposure to unhealthy food marketing.
Britain’s health ministry says the measures, which apply to pre-9 p.m. television and across digital platforms, are expected to strip up to 7.2 billion calories from children’s diets each year. Officials estimate the rules could reduce the number of children living with obesity by 20,000 and deliver around £2 billion (about €2.2 billion) in health benefits.
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Chris Macey, the Irish Heart Foundation’s director of advocacy, said adopting similar restrictions in Ireland would be “a crucial measure for children’s future health,” particularly as the UK changes take effect in Northern Ireland. “Children in Northern Ireland will now have greater protection than their counterparts here from unscrupulous online targeting tactics by junk brands that we know are rampant,” he said. “They result in overconsumption, which in turn causes high rates of overweight and obesity that are damaging children’s long-term health.”
Macey criticized what he described as years of “implementation paralysis” in Dublin despite repeated recommendations, including from the Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs, to curb the impact of marketing on children’s food choices. “The implementation paralysis of successive governments, which have been well aware of the need for tough restrictions on junk food marketing, has to end. The futures of tens of thousands of today’s children depend on it,” he said.
Even as he welcomed the UK law, Macey pointed to gaps that Ireland should consider closing. He noted the British rules still allow brand advertising—logo or sponsorship-led campaigns not tied to a specific high fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) product—and do not directly address influencer marketing, which he said is playing a rapidly growing role in promoting unhealthy foods to young audiences. “However, the new law is very much a step in the right direction and an essential part of action urgently needed here to protect the long-term health of our children,” he said.
The UK ban, first announced in December 2024 and now being implemented, forms part of a broader strategy to combat childhood obesity and diet-related disease. Recent British measures include extending the sugar levy to certain pre-packaged items like milkshakes, ready-to-drink coffees and sweetened yogurt drinks. Local authorities have also been empowered to restrict new fast-food outlets near schools.
British officials argue that advertising shapes children’s preferences and eating patterns, particularly online, where platforms can micro-target ads and influence when and what children eat. Data from England shows 22% of children starting primary school are overweight or obese, rising to more than a third by the time they reach secondary school. Tooth decay remains the leading cause of hospital admissions among children aged 5 to 9, according to government figures.
“By restricting adverts for junk food before 9 p.m. and banning paid adverts online, we can remove excessive exposure to unhealthy foods,” Britain’s health minister Ashley Dalton said in a statement. She said the policy aligns with a broader push to make the National Health Service focus on prevention as well as treatment, “so people can lead healthier lives.”
Public health groups welcomed the move. Katharine Jenner, executive director of the Obesity Health Alliance, called the ban “a welcome and long-awaited step towards better protecting children from unhealthy food and drink advertising that can harm their health and wellbeing.” Diabetes UK said the rules could help stem a worrying rise in type 2 diabetes among young people. “Obesity is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes, and the condition can lead to more severe consequences in young people—leaving them at risk of serious complications like kidney failure and heart disease,” chief executive Colette Marshall said.
The Irish Heart Foundation said the case for matching the UK’s approach is compelling and urgent, warning that inaction will deepen health inequalities and burden families and the health service for years to come.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
