MPs call for ban on fast food outlets near schools to tackle obesity

The UK's cross-party Commons Health Committee has published a report calling for bold action to combat obesity, noting that hundreds of initiatives since 1992 have failed. Currently, 66% of adults and 28% of 13- to 15-year-olds in England are overweight or obese, costing the UK £74bn annually and causing major illness.

The report criticizes Keir Starmer's Labour government for not following through on pledges to improve diets. Committee chair Layla Moran, a Liberal Democrat MP, highlighted the constant bombardment of unhealthy food advertising on screens, journeys home from school, in shops, and at checkouts.

MPs demand stronger powers for local councils to block fast food takeaways from opening near schools. They point to loopholes in national planning policy that allow takeaways to be classified as restaurants, enabling chains like KFC to win legal challenges – KFC sued 43 councils and won in more than half the cases. The definition of hot food takeaway must be clarified urgently.

The committee also backs a total ban on outdoor advertising of foods high in fat, salt, or sugar – on billboards, buses, and trains. About £680m is spent annually on such advertising. The Advertising Association opposes the ban, arguing decades of research show advertising does not affect long-term obesity or BMI.

Additional recommendations: supermarkets should be forced to display fruit and vegetables prominently, mandatory front-of-pack traffic-light nutrition labels on all food, and requiring manufacturers to disclose the share of sales from healthy versus unhealthy products. Ministers are urged to resist industry pressure and delay tactics.