According to research from Lancaster University, planning policies that limit the number of new fast-food outlets can lead to a decrease in the number of overweight and obese children.
The study investigated the effects of a policy in the North East of England, where the Gateshead Council prohibited the conversion of existing non-fast-food businesses into hot fast-food takeaways.
The leading authors of the research, which appears in the journal Obesity, include Dr. Huasheng Xiang from the Management School at Lancaster University and Professor Heather Brown, an expert on Health Inequalities at the Faculty of Health and Medicine at the same institution.
For their analysis, the researchers utilized government data including children’s weights from the National Child Measurement Programme, Food Hygiene Ratings from the Food Standards Agency, and data on deprivation and population from the Office of National Statistics.
They evaluated neighborhoods in Gateshead and compared them to similar areas across the North East. Overall, there was no significant change in childhood overweight and obesity rates between Gateshead and the comparable regions.
However, when focusing on neighborhood deprivation, they discovered that areas in Gateshead with a higher concentration of fast-food outlets showed a statistically significant drop in childhood overweight and obesity rates compared to similar neighborhoods across the North East.
The subgroup analysis by deprivation levels revealed that the most deprived quintiles in Gateshead, which also had the highest number of fast-food establishments, experienced a noteworthy reduction of 4.80% in the rates of childhood overweight and obesity when compared to similar neighborhoods elsewhere in the North East.
Professor Brown remarked: “As many local authorities in England have adopted planning policies aimed at controlling hot food takeaways, robust regulations like those in Gateshead might aid our efforts to combat childhood overweight and obesity. Additionally, since these types of outlets are more prevalent in deprived areas, such policies may help alleviate health disparities.”
Alice Wiseman, Director of Public Health for both Gateshead Council and Newcastle Council, stated: “Establishing environments that promote access to healthy, affordable food is one of the greatest public health challenges we face today.”
“Addressing the issues of healthy weight and access to nutritious food is complex, constantly evolving, and cannot be resolved with a single solution; multiple interventions are necessary to foster meaningful, impactful, and lasting change.”
“It’s encouraging to observe how effective planning policies can be when local government teams collaborate with full institutional support to tackle these challenges and encourage healthier, more resilient communities.”
Other contributors to the research included Dr. Louis Goffe from HDRC Gateshead Council, Dr. Viviana Albani from Newcastle University, and Professor Amelia Lake and Dr. Nasima Akhter from Teesside University.
This study was supported by funding from the National Institute for Health and Social Care Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration North East and North Cumbria (NIHR200173).
