Luke Pollard MP joined with fellow Labour colleagues to pledge support to the #AdEnough campaign developed by chef and food campaigner Jamie Oliver which calls for a ban on junk food advertising on television before 9pm in order to tackle childhood obesity.

What is the #AdEnough campaign?

Jamie Oliver has launched the #AdEnough campaign to call for tighter controls over junk food marketing. With levels of obesity in young children increasing, the campaign aims to hold advertising agencies and social media to account by restricting the promotion of junk food to children. This includes calls for a 9pm watershed on television for food and drinks that are high in salt, fat or sugar, as well as a ban on promotional offers for these items too.

Why is Luke supporting the campaign?

The NHS is already under immense pressure and the current generation of young children are often surrounded by adverts that promote unhealthy eating habits. With the UK now the most obese country in western Europe putting our children’s lives at risk, it is time for us to combat this problem at the root.

Last year the Labour Party pledged to reduce the “scandal of child ill-health” by creating a £250 million child health fund in order to make the next generation of children the healthiest in the world. This also included a promise to establish a programme for halving obesity by 2027 within 100 days of a Labour General Election win. We need this Conservative Government to act now, before the crisis reaches an epidemic.