At 7pm, a familiar ritual unfolds in living rooms across the world. Homework is half-done, supper simmers and children curl up in front of the television wide-eyed, absorbent, impressionable.
For years, that hour has been punctuated by glossy promises of happiness wrapped in sugar, salt and saturated fat. Bright colours. Cartoon mascots. Deals too good to miss. But from Monday, January 5 2026, the UK pressed pause on that soundtrack.
In a decisive move to confront childhood obesity, the UK government has banned television advertising of foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) before 9pm, alongside a blanket ban on such advertising online.
Soft drinks, chocolates, sweets, pizzas and ice creams are among the products affected. The policy applies nationwide and its implications ripple far beyond Britain’s borders.
Why childhood nutrition matters more than we admit
Childhood nutrition is not simply about calories in and calories out. It is about brain development, emotional regulation, immunity, bone density, dental health and the formation of lifelong eating patterns.
The foods children are exposed to and encouraged to crave shape their relationship with food long before they can read a nutrition label.According to NHS data, almost one in 10 reception-aged children (9.2%) in England lives with obesity, and one in five children has tooth decay by the age of five.
Obesity-related illness costs the NHS more than £11 billion annually, a figure that reflects not only strained budgets but shortened lives.Decades of research show that food marketing works, particularly on children.
A landmark body of evidence cited by the World Health Organization confirms that exposure to HFSS advertising increases children’s preferences for, purchase of and consumption of unhealthy foods independent of hunger.
Children do not have the cognitive defences adults do. They absorb aspiration before information.In an article for the BBC, Professor Katherine Brown, a behaviour change expert at the University of Hertfordshire, calls the ban “long overdue,” noting that children are “highly susceptible to aggressive marketing of unhealthy foods,” which raises their lifetime risk of obesity and chronic disease.
What the ban actually does and doesn’t do
The new rules stop HFSS products from being advertised on TV before the 9pm watershed and at any time online, closing a loophole where children were still being targeted through social media, games and streaming platforms.
Products are assessed using a government nutrient profiling model that balances beneficial nutrients against levels of sugar, salt and saturated fat.Importantly, this ban is product-specific, not brand-specific.
Companies can still advertise their logos, the golden arches, the familiar swirls, the comforting colours, but not the unhealthy products themselves.According to online reports, the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), representing manufacturers, says it has already been voluntarily complying with the restrictions and points to reformulation efforts: its members’ products now reportedly contain a third less salt and sugar and a quarter fewer calories than a decade ago.
Childhood obesity is not cosmetic; it is systemic.Obesity in childhood is associated with type 2 diabetes, hypertension, asthma, joint problems and early cardiovascular disease. But the physical consequences are only one layer.
Children living with obesity are more likely to experience bullying, social exclusion, low self-esteem, anxiety and depression, according to studies published in “The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health”.Weight stigma is often internalised before adolescence becomes a quiet companion, shaping how children see themselves and how they believe the world sees them.
The mental health cost we rarely name
Food marketing does not simply sell products, it sells emotion. Joy. Belonging. Relief. For children already navigating academic pressure, family stress or social comparison, these messages can blur emotional hunger with physical hunger.
Over time, this increases the risk of emotional eating, a behaviour strongly linked to anxiety and depression in adolescence.The result is a cruel loop: children gain weight, experience stigma, withdraw socially, and turn back to food for comfort, all while being relentlessly marketed to.
The UK ban interrupts this cycle at its source.The ripple effect on the health systemChildhood obesity rarely ends in childhood. Data shows that obese children are far more likely to become obese adults, placing long-term strain on public health systems.
Beyond direct healthcare costs are indirect ones: missed school days, reduced academic performance, long-term unemployment linked to chronic illness, and mental health services stretched thin by preventable distress.
The UK government estimates the advertising ban could prevent around 20,000 cases of childhood obesity. That number represents fewer hospital beds filled, fewer insulin prescriptions written, and fewer children entering adolescence carrying a burden they did not choose.
Could South Africa follow?
South Africa faces its own childhood nutrition crisis, with rising rates of obesity existing alongside food insecurity, a paradox driven by cheap, ultra-processed foods and aggressive marketing. Many countries have already implemented or are actively considering similar junk food advertising bans to address rising childhood obesity.
Norway: Enacted pioneering legislation in 2023 and 2025 restricting all advertisements for unhealthy foods to minors under 18.
Portugal: Introduced restrictions in 2019 banning ads for high-fat, salt, and sugar (HFSS) foods during and around children’s programming.
Chile: Implemented a comprehensive law in 2016 that bans advertising of “high-in” products on media targeting children under 14.
Belgium: Announced a voluntary ban by food companies, overseen by industry watchdogs, to prohibit advertising unhealthy food to children under 16 starting in 2026 Regulation sets a tone.
The absence of an advert may seem small. But in that quiet space between a cartoon and the news, something powerful happens. A craving is not planted. A habit is not reinforced.
