We took centre stage again this week as our Head of Policy and Research, Nika Pajda, gave evidence to MPs in Parliament during a high-profile Health and Social Care Committee inquiry into preventing food-related ill health.

Nika joined a panel of expert witnesses that included Professor Chris van Tulleken, and senior figures from Nesta, The Obesity Health Alliance and City St George’s University of London. The Committee will be making policy recommendations to the Government, and we made the case for an end to all unhealthy food and drink advertising by the end of this Parliament.

“We are flooded by junk food advertising, and the upcoming regulation is based on strong evidence, has the public’s support and will create a level playing field for businesses that want to spotlight healthier products,” said Nika.

“But industry’s successful lobbying has led to its delay and watering down, which means young people will continue to be exposed to unhealthy ads. This is misaligned with the evidence, which shows the power of unhealthy brand advertising, and clearly privileges the industry over protecting children’s health.”

Giving evidence to MPs, Nika, urged the Government to take immediate steps to protect children’s health — including tightening TV and online restrictions on junk food ads and closing loopholes that allow unhealthy brands to sidestep current rules.

Nika also called for the regulations to be extended to outdoor advertising, where exposure is starkly unequal. Citing joint research with the University of Liverpool, she highlighted that 44% of high fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) adverts were located in the UK’s most deprived areas — compared to just 4% in the most affluent.

Nika warned that voluntary measures have consistently failed to curb Big Food’s dominance, and said children from low-income communities were being disproportionately targeted by unhealthy food marketing.

“Our youth campaigners have been clear: we need systemic change. When the food system is set up to fail children, especially those in the most deprived communities, the Government has a responsibility to act — not eventually, but now,” Nika explained.

Her testimony followed the latest Government figures, which show that more than one in three (36.2%) 10–11 year olds in England are living at risk of food-related ill health. The data also revealed major disparities by ethnicity and deprivation — inequalities we have long campaigned to expose.

In Parliament last month, Bite Back youth activists Jada and Alice also gave evidence to the same committee, sharing their powerful lived experience and policy demands. Read about that moment here.

"It’s brilliant that the Committee invited Bite Back to give evidence not just once, but twice, especially as the voices of young people are too often missing from the conversations concerning their health. We have been shining a light on the actions of the food giants and their influence on children’s food environments for years, and we look forward to seeing the Committee’s recommendations," Nika said after the session.