In response to the growing crisis in children’s diet-related health, a Children’s Food Bill, developed by Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming and supported by 114 national organisations, was presented to Parliament yesterday by Debra Shipley MP.

The Bill is designed to bring about an improvement in children’s current and future health and prevent food-related ill-health, such as childhood obesity and the many other diseases which are linked to children’s junk food diets.

It requires the Food Standards Agency to specify criteria for unhealthy and healthy food, taking into account nutritional content and other criteria such as the presence of additives and contaminants. Based on these criteria, the marketing to children of unhealthy foods will be prohibited and the government will be required to publish an annual plan to promote healthy foods to children, such as fruit and vegetables.

The Bill will also address the types of foods which are available to children at school. It includes regulations which will set compositional standards for school meals, improve food education and skills and prevent unhealthy foods from being sold in school vending machines.

Charlie Powell, project officer at Sustain, explained: “As well as ending commercial activities that directly promote junk food and drink to children, the Children’s Food Bill will also improve the quality of children’s food.

“As huge profits are at stake, calls for the junk food industry to act voluntarily are simply naive. Our coalition of 114 national organisations recognises that statutory measures to improve children’s diets are urgently needed.”