Which local governments have a healthier food advertising policy?

Since 2019, UK local governments including the Mayor of London, Bristol, York and Knowsley councils have worked with Sustain to champion children’s health by setting the stage for healthier food across their advertising estates.

Academic evidence shows that restrictions have led to a 20% reduction in sugary product purchases, and a 1000 weekly calorie decrease on average per household from unhealthy foods and drinks. Modelling estimates that the Transport for London restriction will lead to 95,000 fewer cases of obesity, 3000 fewer cases of type 2 diabetes and 2000 fewer cases of heart disease and save the NHS £218 million over the lifetime of the current London population.

Advertising revenues have been maintained. Transport for London announced that its advertising revenues have been unaffected by the restrictions since implementation in 2019; a pattern which is mirrored by other local governments that have implemented the policy.

There are now 18 local governments in addition to Transport for London that have championed their children’s health by bringing in robust healthier food advertising policies with Sustain’s support. They have all taken policies through their administrations to switch the spotlight away from unhealthy foods across their advertising estate. In our what does good look like? page, we explain the standards local governments need to meet for these policies. The case studies highlight local governments that are demonstrating excellence in their policy guidance and/or implementation.

In addition, there are at least 150 local governments plus several international governments consulting with Sustain for support on bringing in their own healthier food advertising policy. If your local government is interested, please check out Sustain's Healthier Food Advertising Policy toolkit and contact Fran Bernhardt on fran@sustainweb.org.

Despite the precedent from multiple administrations over several years and strong evidence of impact, local governments face considerable difficulties in passing robust healthier food advertising policies. It’s important not to underestimate the scale and strength of opposition which undermines policies across the country at every stage of the process. Stretched council capacity  and powerful industry lobbying often result in delays, dilutions or total disruption to the policy being passed and robustly implemented.

These pages draw on the experiences of local governments and are designed to assist them in formulating and enforcing robust policies.

Map of UK local governments' robust healthier food advertising policies

Map of London councils' robust healthier food advertising policies