Dr Daniel Jones, Public Health Physician, Public Health Wales & Bevan Fellow
July 23, 2026
Current Situation
Obesity levels remain stubbornly high in Wales. One in eight children aged 4–5 years and one in four adults are living with obesity, contributing to preventable cancers, rising diabetes, widening inequalities, stifling economic growth and adding significant pressure to public services.
Obesity and being overweight costs NHS Wales over £500 million annually, rising to £2.5 billion when wider societal costs are included. Nearly 5,000 deaths each year in Wales are attributable to unhealthy diets. On average, 1 in 13 calories in adults come from alcohol which is also associated with a range of harms, including cancer. Alcohol harms cost Wales roughly £1 billion per year and nearly half of children admit drinking alcohol aged 13 years or younger.
Preventing overweight and obesity is beyond individuals simply moving more and eating well. There are many layers of influences that shape the food we eat and how we move so, for population level impact, we must shift our focus upstream to address these influences. This includes our food environment.
Why advertising matters for population health
One of the most powerful drivers of unhealthy eating and drinking is the marketing of foods high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) and alcohol, as evidenced by multiple international reviews. These products are cheap, accessible, and aggressively promoted with discounts, branding and prizes. They can be addictive in nature and rarely provide the consumer with proper information on all the risks.
This aggressive marketing is not spread out either: it is concentrated in high streets, commuter routes, deprived areas and areas with high takeaway density – places where children and young people amongst others are regularly exposed to this marketing.
In Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, an NIHR PHIRST Research study found that 74.2% of respondents in Cardiff and 60.9% in the Vale reported seeing HFSS advertising in their area. In local workshops, high levels of aggressive marketing were reported, and children were able to recall such adverts on their school runs. There was clear public support for tackling this. Further fieldwork in the region has highlighted the volume of privately owned outdoor advertising and taking the form of posters, stands and shop fronts. With a local focus on high streets, sports stadia and universities, the findings showed that between 1 in 3 and 1 in 5 adverts are for food and drink and that ¾ of these were for HFSS foods whilst only 1 in 20 showed fruit or vegetables; 1 in 13 adverts were for alcohol.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is clear that mandatory restrictions on unhealthy food and alcohol marketing reduce HFSS and alcohol consumption and improve health outcomes. When Transport for London restricted HFSS advertising, this led to reduced HFSS purchases and it is estimated that this will reduce obesity, diabetes and heart disease over time, saving millions of pounds. It also did not see a drop in advertising revenue contrary to industry predictions.
Local action is underway — but limited by the current regulatory landscape
Vale of Glamorgan Council and Cardiff Council have taken important steps by recently introducing new advertising and sponsorship policies that restrict HFSS marketing on council‑owned assets, the first councils to do so in Wales. These policies align with WHO guidance, similar policies elsewhere and, as part of the Councils’ commitment to our whole system approach through the Good Food and Movement Framework (2024-2030) demonstrates local leadership on a key issue.
However, we estimate that local authorities control only 10–30% of outdoor advertising space in our region. The majority is owned by private operators such as telecoms companies and media groups. Without national regulation, there is the risk that HFSS advertising could simply shift to these unregulated spaces.
Following the UK Government’s restrictions on HFSS advertising on TV and online, it is expected that a large amount of HFSS advertising spend will divert into outdoor advertising. It is vital to get ahead of this. These restrictions also do not apply to alcohol.
Policy levers available to Wales
There is more to do locally, to embed our polices alongside sharing our learning with other Local Authorities. However, the biggest gains would come from:
- National regulation of HFSS and alcohol outdoor advertising to create a consistent, equitable approach across Wales that tackles all outdoor advertising at once
- Strengthening national planning policy to better enable local authorities to limit hot food takeaway density in key areas, reducing both HFSS availability and associated marketing. Evidence suggests that reducing the concentration of fast‑food outlets can help lower childhood obesity rates and reduce the clustering and impact of HFSS marketing in deprived areas.
- Strengthening licensing laws and policies for local authorities, including making public health a statutory objective to be considered in any licensing application
A strategic opportunity for national leadership
Wales has already set out a clear ambition through the Healthy Weight, Healthy Wales strategy to phase out the marketing of HFSS foods by 2030. Delivering that as soon as possible alongside action in other areas, such as planning and licensing, are crucial to supporting healthy weight.
National action would reduce obesity, reduce health inequalities, boost the economy, ease pressure on public services and create healthier food and drink environments for children, young people and adults across Wales.
