Government should limit discounts on unhealthy foods, committee urges

The Health Select Committee has called on the government to take more robust action to tackle the impact of discounting on the sales of unhealthy food and drink to help tackle childhood obesity.

In its follow up report on the matter, the committee highlighted that retailers who act responsibly on discounting and promotions should not be put at a competitive disadvantage to those who do not.

The report also said: “We looked at childhood obesity in the autumn of 2015, anticipating the publication of the government’s childhood obesity plan. We concluded that the scale and consequences of childhood obesity demand bold and urgent action, and that if the government fails to act, the problem will become far worse. We judged the evidence to be sufficiently strong to justify introducing all the policies we recommended, and we urged the government to take action to implement them.”

Chair of the Health Committee, Dr Sarah Wollaston MP, said: "We are extremely disappointed that the Government has rejected a number of our recommendations. These omissions mean that the current plan misses important opportunities to tackle childhood obesity.

“Vague statements about seeing how the current plan turns out are inadequate to the seriousness and urgency of this major public health challenge. The government must set clear goals for reducing overall levels of childhood obesity as well as goals for reducing the unacceptable and widening levels of inequality."