The Scottish Government has binned plans to stop the sale of energy drinks to children.
Jenni Minto, the public health minister, told MSPs today that a public consultation had found "insufficient evidence" to support a legally-enforceable ban on the products being sold to Scots under-16.
SNP ministers previously claimed that a crack-down on the sale of drinks high in caffeine could help tackle sleep issues among youngsters and improve educational attainment.
But Minto signalled a change in government thinking on the wider issue of tackling soaring rates of obesity across the country.
Plans to put calorie information on menus have been paused, while a bill for restricting promotions on unhealthy food and drink has been ditched in favour of more limited regulations.
Minto said: "I recognise that consumption of energy drinks is a significant concern to parents, teachers and young people.
"We will continue to support voluntary measures to restrict the sale of energy drinks to children, and will keep under review how these could be strengthened.
"We will also consider what additional analysis and evidence-gathering could be undertaken."
Previous government research found that a third of young people drink the highly stimulating products frequently or in large amounts.
Around one in 10 under-16s drink them every day - with some having three or more in one sitting.
The Scottish Government had announced its diet and healthy weight delivery plan in 2018, with public consultations taking place between 2019 and 2022.
But Minto signalled legislation designed to boost more healthy eating would now be put back.
She said: "Rather than introduce the Public Health (Restriction of Promotions) Bill, I instead plan to consult on the detail of proposed regulations this autumn.
“This includes proposals to restrict the promotion of less healthy food and drinks in prominent locations in store, for example at the end of aisles and beside checkouts.
“We also propose to target certain price promotions which encourage people to buy more than they actually need, for example multibuys and unlimited refills.”
Labour MSP Carol Mochan said the announcement “shows little to no progress”.
She added: "The minister should be here to explain why the SNP Scottish Government has made so little progress in this area since the plan was established five years ago."
Sandesh Gulhane, Scottish Conservatives health spokesman, said: "This statement does little to actually address the obesity epidemic sweeping across Scotland. The minister’s statement amounts to: 1) energy drinks – we won’t do this; 2) mandating calorie labelling – we’re not sure; 3) restrictions of promotions – let’s do some more thinking."
Speaking in 2019, former public health minister Joe Fitzpatrick had said: "Sleep is particularly important for the health and wellbeing of adolescents and poor sleep can negatively affect physical and mental health, as well as educational attainment.
"I welcome the leadership shown by many retailers and publicly funded leisure centres in banning the sales of energy drinks to under 16s. This builds on regulations in place in schools and hospitals."
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