Council moves to encourage healthier advertising in public spaces

Article date: 19 March 2025

Approved by cabinet members today (Wednesday 19 March), the move aligns with the council's commitment to improving public health, addressing inequalities, and supporting environmental sustainability.

Under the new policy, brands that often advertise high fat, salt and sugar burgers may no longer be able to advertise those products. But they could advertise a healthier version of the same food or another healthier menu item instead such as a sugar free drink.

The report to cabinet details the serious and damaging impact of food-related ill health and suggests that a new policy that favours healthier advertising could form an important strand of the council's wider work to improve public health.

In 2022 in the UK, advertisers spent 33 times more money on promoting soft drinks, confectionary, snacks and desserts than they did on promoting fruit and vegetables. Research shows that exposure to advertising for products that are high in fats, sugar and salt is linked to a strong preference for these products, more snacking, and consuming more calories.

Crucially, the marketing of such products is frequently targeted towards young people, including fun cartoon characters, toy collections and tie-ins with popular franchises, films and video games.

Ruth du Plessis, St Helens Borough Council's Director of Public Health, said: "A balanced diet is key to good health, but it can be harder to make healthy choices when brands often focus their advertising on high fat, sugar or salt foods, particularly when we see them every day on our way to work or school.

"Our new policy urges advertisers to promote their healthier options instead. Similar policies adopted elsewhere have shown this can reduce calorie intake and improve public health."

Adoption of the policy brings St Helens Borough in line with seven other local authorities in Cheshire and Merseyside that have already implemented similar measures, demonstrating the growing momentum towards responsible advertising practices which promote healthier choices.

The ultimate goal is for all local authorities in the subregion to follow suit, making Cheshire and Merseyside the first UK region to implement a unified approach to healthier advertising.