Plans to ban junk food advertising and stop children buying highly caffeinated energy drinks are part of a sweeping range of public health measures being drawn up by ministers to prevent disease and ease the strain on the NHS.
The Government made it clear that it would stand up to “the predictable cries of a 'meddlesome state'” because Chancellor Keir Starmer was convinced this was the way to improve services.
The government has announced that junk food adverts will be banned from airing on television before 9pm. Online advertising for products high in fat, salt and sugar will be banned altogether. Both measures, aimed at helping to tackle childhood obesity, will come into effect in a year's time.
Part of the same public health drive, and featured in Labour's election manifesto, are plans to ban highly caffeinated energy drinks from being bought by children, due to be announced next month.
The government is due to introduce a toughened tobacco and e-cigarette bill in the coming months, which could extend the indoor smoking ban to pub beer gardens.
Ministers are also considering expanding water fluoridation to improve dental health and giving local authorities more powers to block fast-food restaurants from opening near schools to tackle obesity. Government officials are lobbying the public health department for policy ideas, and further measures are under consideration.
A Government source told the Guardian: “We are seriously looking at whether we can go further with prevention measures. As Ala Darji outlined in her report, the rise in illness in our society is putting huge strain on the NHS. Keir is not afraid to do controversial things if it's the right thing to do. He is prepared to confront the predictable accusations of an 'overprotective state' in order to reduce waiting lists, keep people healthy and in jobs and secure the long-term future of the NHS.”
Mr Starmer was speaking at the King's Fund in the wake of a report by former health secretary Lord Darzi which concluded the health service was “in a state of crisis” after years of neglect by successive governments.
The Prime Minister said he was ready to take “daring” action to prevent the disease. “We must go into areas like diet and healthy lifestyles. Some of the prevention measures will be controversial but I am prepared to be bold, even in the face of significant opposition,” he said. “Some of our reforms will not be to everyone's tastes, I know that. But I will do the right thing for the NHS, for our economy and for our children.”
Starmer and Health Secretary Wes Streeting want the NHS to play a more active role in prevention, such as through the Workplace Health Scheme, which offers health checks in workplaces to prevent heart disease, kidney disease and diabetes.
Public health officials said the Darzi report “pulls no punches” at the wider public health causes behind the NHS's woes and that it reflected a wider shift in approach from the previous government.
Officials said they were consulting with the industry on proposed policies, including tackling obesity. As well as promoting anti-smoking measures and fluoridating water, the official said he believed ministers were looking at ways to curb the health hazards of alcohol. “We don't know if this will happen, but alcohol, along with smoking, is clearly something to look at,” the official said.
Mr Starmer came under renewed pressure on Friday to take bolder action on public health issues from chef and food campaigner Jamie Oliver, Henry Dimbleby, the architect of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's food plan, and Anne Longfield, a former children's commissioner for England.
Oliver urged the prime minister to learn from some of the successful tough anti-obesity initiatives being implemented internationally, citing efforts to educate primary school students in Amsterdam about healthy eating, restrictions on junk food packaging introduced by Mexico and Chile, and sugar and salt taxes in Colombia.
“Around the world, we are seeing leaders take action, stopping the overwhelming barrage of junk food advertising and making it easier to make healthy choices – and they are reaping the rewards. Surely, it's time for our government to take action and follow suit,” Oliver said.
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Mr Dimbleby, co-founder of the Leon restaurant chain, who drew up Johnson's food strategy, advised Starmer to regulate the food industry to force it to make its products healthier.
He said: “Changing dietary habits is essential to moving from treating disease to preventing it. Now is the government's chance to put in place policies to ensure everyone has access to the foods they need to stay healthy, and to regulate the food industry to stop the constant influx of junk food that has become a deadly cultural norm.”
Both Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak have promised to ban junk food advertising on television before 9pm, a step that has been repeatedly delayed. Dimbleby called on ministers to go further, such as banning junk food advertising in video games, taxing products with too much salt or sugar, and forcing manufacturers to disclose annually how much of their sales come from products that government guidelines classify as junk food.
Research from the Food Foundation has found that unhealthy eating habits are driving disability rates to an all-time high among overweight and obese people across the UK.
The charity's research found that the cumulative number of years people spend living with disabilities related to being dangerously overweight rose from 573,266 in 2011 to 755,212 in 2021. The charity estimates that if everyone ate 30% more fruit and vegetables, 50% more fibre, 25% less foods high in fat, salt and sugar, and 30% less meat, 6,000 lives could be saved a year and 10% of disabilities could be avoided.
Ms Longfield, a former children's commissioner for England, proposed a sugar tax be applied to sugary drinks such as milkshakes to tackle the “alarmingly high” number of children suffering from tooth decay due to eating too much sweet food.
It is one of a series of measures set out in a report by Child of the North, Longfield think tank Young Lives Centre and dental experts, who also called on ministers to increase the addition of fluoride to water supplies because of its proven benefits for dental health.
Also on Thursday, Michael Barber, who was Tony Blair's head of policy delivery from 2001 to 2005, was appointed adviser on the effectiveness of policy delivery to Keir Starmer.
