The UK Government has announced that major food retailers, including supermarkets and manufacturers, will be required to report on and meet targets for the healthiness of the food they sell.
This policy represents a significant and long-overdue shift towards prevention, recognising the structural drivers of obesity and the role of the food industry in shaping population health. It is designed to help transform the food environment so that healthier choices become easier and more accessible for everyone.
While welcoming this step, the Association for the Study of Obesity (ASO) emphasises that no single policy can address the complexity of obesity.
ASO full statement
Professor Nicola Heslehurst, President, ASO, said:
“This policy marks a significant and long-overdue shift towards prevention. It acknowledges the structural drivers of obesity and begins to address the role of the food industry in shaping population health.
Mandatory reporting and targets are vital steps, but on their own, they won’t address the full complexity of the issue. Obesity is driven by a complex mix of social, biological, and environmental factors. Tackling it requires long-term investment, equitable access to evidence-based treatment, workforce training, and coordinated action across systems.
If the government is serious about prevention, this must be the start of systemic change, not the end of it. That’s essential if we are to reduce obesity and the widening health inequalities associated with it.”
