Young campaigners urge incoming PM to act on outdoor junk food ads

The Health and Social Care Committee has just delivered one of parliament’s strongest calls yet for action to protect children from junk food marketing. And Bite Back’s young campaigners are urging the incoming government to seize the moment.

After a year-long inquiry, MPs have concluded that children’s health has been undermined by unhealthy food environments and decades of industry influence. They’re recommending stronger protections including action on outdoor junk food advertising.

The report echoes the evidence given directly to the Committee by Bite Back campaigners Jayda and Alice. They told MPs how children and young people are surrounded by junk food marketing every day.

With a new prime minister taking office shortly, Bite Back says the Committee has handed the new government a ready-made roadmap for improving children’s health. The charity is calling on ministers to move quickly. And it wants them to begin with a national ban on junk food advertising in outdoor spaces.

Bite Back campaigner Jayda said:

Children and young people are surrounded by junk food marketing every single day. Whether it’s on billboards, at bus stops or on the journey to school or even online, it’s almost impossible to avoid.

In 2025 I had the opportunity to give evidence to this Committee, so I’m really pleased to see MPs recognising what young people are experiencing.

We also saw first-hand how coordinated the food and advertising industries can be when they pushed back against Bite Back’s Commercial Break campaign. The campaign simply called for children to get a break from junk food adverts. Young people are becoming increasingly aware of these commercial pressures and deserve better.

This report is an important step towards creating healthier environments for children and young people. Now the government must act quickly rather than delay. Children’s health should always come first, ahead of industry lobbying.

Bite Back campaigner Alice said:

The government needs to put children’s health ahead of industry lobbying, and a really important first step would be banning junk food advertising in outdoor spaces.

We need to make it easier for children and young people to grow up in places where healthier food is supported instead of unhealthy food being promoted everywhere.

In 2025 we had the opportunity to give evidence to this Committee, and it’s encouraging to see MPs recognising what young people shared with them. They listened. Now the new prime minister needs to listen too.

D’Arcy Williams, chief executive of Bite Back, said:

The Health and Social Care Committee has sent one of the clearest messages parliament has delivered in years: if we want healthier generations, we must create healthier environments for children and young people.

For too long, we’ve expected children to navigate a food environment stacked against them. Our young campaigners have shown how junk food advertising dominates bus stops, billboards and high streets, while our research has highlighted the concentration of unhealthy food marketing and fast-food outlets around schools.

That is not an accident, it is the result of a system that has consistently put commercial interests ahead of children’s health.

In 2025, through our award-winning Commercial Break campaign, young people reclaimed outdoor advertising space to show what our streets could look like without junk food adverts.

The response from the advertising industry demonstrated just how difficult it can be to challenge the status quo. That’s why government leadership matters.

The Committee has now laid out a clear roadmap – one that also urges the government to protect the policy process from further food industry interference tactics.

The incoming government has an opportunity to show real leadership by introducing a national ban on outdoor junk food advertising, strengthening protections for children in and around schools, and ensuring that every child grows up in an environment that supports their health rather than undermines it.

Young people have done their part. Parliament has listened. Now it’s time for the government to deliver.

Featured image via Bite Back / David Madden