Call for ban on fast food deliveries to schools after one in four teenagers admit ordering to playground

Health
Education
Thursday 23 June 2016 at 8:35am

Credit: Nick Potts/PA Wire

Fast food deliveries should be banned to schools, health experts have said, after it emerged that a quarter of teenagers had ordered takeaways to their playgrounds.

Teenagers were asked about the childhood obesity epidemic, and questioned on their habits and what they thought solutions could be.

The report by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), the Youth Health Movement, and Slimming World found that:

Half of teenagers said fast food firms should be banned from delivering to schools.
Four in five said supermarkets should offer free fruit and vegetables for children to snack on while shopping with their parents.
Soft drinks' packaging should say how many teaspoons of sugar they contain.
82% said food manufacturers are misleading people when they give nutritional information per serving, rather than for the whole product.
One in three said foods high in salt, fat, or sugar, should have film-style classifications such as PG, 12, or 15.
Many said they would be tempted to use a loyalty card that gives points for healthy food choices.

Our childhood obesity rates are disappointing, and tackling this must be a priority for government - there can be no excuses for fudging action on what is our number one public health challenge. While we welcome the Government's introduction of a sugar levy on soft drinks, it is absolutely critical that the forthcoming childhood obesity strategy builds on this positive step with a basket of hard-hitting measures, from greater controls on advertising and marketing of junk food to food reformulation. This report gives a uniquely young person's perspective on what steps can and should be taken, and while there is no silver bullet, young people are very clear what they think the causes of obesity are, and what action they would like to see from government and industry in particular.

The report comes ahead of the Government's childhood obesity strategy which is expected to be published in the summer.