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Wales’ Health Minister has called on the UK Government to introduce a pre-9pm watershed ban on adverts that market food and drink that are high in fat, salt and sugar to children.

In a letter to the UK Government’s public health minister, Jane Ellison MP, Mark Drakeford said that children and young people have the highest intakes of free sugar, broadly three times higher than government recommendations.

Soft drinks are the main contributor, with chocolate and other confectionery, cereals and biscuits, buns, cakes and pastries all making significant contributions.

The Minister said that stronger, co-ordinated UK Government action on all advertising of unhealthy foods to children could be a key contributor to improving the diets of children and young people across the UK.

Mark Drakeford said:

“The National Diet and Nutrition Survey continues to highlight the poor diet of our young children.

“Adverts marketing soft drinks, chocolate, other confectionery, and sugary cereals are all making significant contributions to children consuming free sugar.

“All these food sectors are actively marketed during the advertisement breaks of TV programmes we know our children and young people watch, on the internet, as well as in in cinemas preceding films targeted at children.

“That’s why I have written to the UK Government, as have Ministers in Scotland, to call for an immediate extension to the Ofcom high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) broadcast advertising regulations, which would ban these adverts from appearing on our TV screens until after 9am.

“This, I believe, could be a key contributor to improving the diets of children and young people across the UK."

The Minister said he would also welcome a co-ordinated effort across the UK to explore how the control of all advertising to children can be strengthened; building on the Committee on Advertising Practice’s planned consultation on the introduction of rules governing the non-broadcast advertising of HFSS foods to children.