SNP is prohibiting unhealthy food offers to control Scotland’s obesity

Scottish National Party published a plan to ban large meals in restaurants and junk food promotions from all outlets among a host of measures to try and tackle Scotland's obesity crisis. Ministers are willing to see the broadcast of TV adverts for unhealthy food banned before the 21:00 watershed. These events include a ban on all multi-buy offers on products such as crisps and sweets, or shops temporarily discounting their price in order to increase sales.

The new strategy of Scottish government diet and obesity strategy are published for consultation. Ministers in Holyrood are “minded” to clamp down on promotions on food that is high in fat, salt and sugar. TV chef Jamie Oliver, a famous campaigner for healthier eating, addressed it as "trailblazing" and urged the UK government to follow suit.

"This is an amazing step towards making sure the healthiest choice is the easiest choice - for everyone. Today, Scotland has set an example to the rest of the world. It has picked up the baton that Westminster dropped last year. So, now the ball is back in the UK government's court. We need to ensure everyone in Britain has a chance to raise their children in a healthy environment." – John Oliver said.

The controversial ideas are introducing portion limits on the size of takeaway, pub and restaurant meals and are required as two-thirds of Scottish adults are classed as overweight, with almost 30 per cent identified as obese.
Public Health Minister Aileen Campbell said: “We are putting forward a package of bold measures designed to help people make healthier choices, empower personal change and show real leadership.Now we need people who live, work and consume food and drink in Scotland to tell us what they think.”

While TV chef Jamie Oliver praised the Scottish Government for its bold and brave move, to transform our kids’ diets” and urged Westminster to follow suit, Medics and health campaigners led by Cancer Research UK welcomed the “bold proposals”.

The strategy also targets the “out of home” sector which the government said is “skewed towards less healthy options” and said that food and drink high in fat, salt and sugar is “cheap, widely available, and heavily promoted”. This is an indication that Scots are consuming more than significant calories than they need. These calories are 20% and half of sugar coming from so-called “discretionary foods”. By early next year ministers plan to draw up their final proposals.
Unveiling the plan, Aileen Campbell, the SNP’s Public Health Minister, said: “We are putting forward a package of bold measures designed to help people make healthier choices, empower personal change and show real leadership.
"Now we need people who live, work and consume food and drink in Scotland to tell us what they think.”
Ewan MacDonald-Russell, its head of policy said – “Government must take care that any measures which limit promotions should be based on clear and relevant evidence which assess the impact of the proposals both on health, but also on consumers so not to unfairly hit hard-pressed households already struggling with inflation and other rising costs.” He also warned imposing separate Scottish rules over labelling “could be confusing to consumers and costly to businesses” operating across the UK.

“Just when you thought the nanny state couldn’t interfere any further, now we find the Scottish Government using named persons in the form of health visitors to spy on what mums and dads feed their kids.” – Simon Calvert, from the No To Named Persons campaign group, said.

Dr Peter Bennie, chair of the British Medical Association in Scotland, said: "The scale of the challenge facing Scotland means that we need bold and comprehensive action across every part of society in Scotland if we are to successfully reduce levels of overweight and obesity in future years. Failing to do this will only add to the already significant cost pressures facing the health service in future years."

Professor Derek Bell, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, said: “We very much hope that the consultation will result in the bold action required to tackle the problems that exist.”