National planning rules need to change

Responding to the Centre for Diet and Activity Research's new research on the growth of fast food takeaways, especially in poorer areas, Malcolm Clark, co-ordinator of the Children's Food Campaign, said:

“Our high streets are far from healthy even in more upmarket locations; but the explosion of takeaways in more deprived areas shows how far our food system is failing those most at risk of diet-related ill health. Over two-thirds of people surveyed by the Royal Society for Public Health agreed that fast food outlets discourage healthy choices.  Local authorities are at least now starting to wake up to the impact of fast food outlets clustered around schools, and to the way such food is heavily marketed at children and teenagers."  

"Initiatives such as the Healthier Catering Commitment and restrictions on new takeaways opening up near schools will help a little.  But Councils’ hands are tied by national planning and licensing regulations, and they are up against wider societal pressures for cheap, energy-dense food.  It is time the government stepped in to make healthy choices easier, no matter where people live.”