NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens has hit out at ITV over breast enlargement adverts played during Love Island.
Mr Stevens said the ads put pressure on young people over their body image and urged broadcasters to look “very carefully at the kinds of impacts that it is having”.
He told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show: “If you look at the increasing pressures on young people around eating disorder services, we have to think about the whole environment in which children are being exposed to.
NHS boss Simon Stevens tells #marr he is concerned about some of the TV adverts shown alongside #LoveIsland. Here's why. pic.twitter.com/TBdCVw902b
— Jason Keen (@Jason_Keen) July 1, 2018
“Some of that is social media, but I mean even if you take a show like Love Island look at the adverts that are being shown alongside Love Island.
“You’ve got explicit ads aiming at young women around breast cosmetic surgery.
“That is all playing into a set of pressures around body image that are showing up as a burden on other services.”
He added: “I think the time has come really to think long and hard as to whether we should be exposing young people to those kinds of pressures and social media and advertising has got to look very carefully at the kinds of impacts that it is having.
“I think that’s been accepted as part of the childhood obesity strategy, but it’s as relevant in mental health.”