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A tale of two maps: can this be just coincidence?

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Yesterday, we published a map illustrating the incidence of obesity among 10 to 11-year-olds across the country, and in London.

Croydon is shown to have one of the highest obesity rates among that age group in London, and in the country, with more than 1 in 5 of the borough’s oldest children at primary school being assessed as obese.

Here’s the London section of that map again, with the dark colour indicating 22 per cent or more of children being obese:

Now here’s another map, showing the density of fast food outlets there are in each borough:

Notice the similarity between the higher incidence of childhood obesity and the availability of cheap, high calorific fast food?

If there is a public health crisis due to obesity, it is caused at least in part because of weak (and weakened) local authority planning powers – our council cannot determine when there are already enough fried chicken takeways (or charity shops, or bookies) in a neighbourhood – coupled with this government’s continuing reductions in funding for sports and fitness activities in our schools and community clubs.

And any obesity among 10-year-olds today will be costing the nation far more in remedial medical treatment in two or three decades’ time.

The fast food outlets map is taken from the Office for National Statistics, in work conducted for Public Health England.The darkest colour on the map, as represented for Croydon, shows where there is more than 107 fast food outlets per 100,000 of population, or more than one takeaway for every 1,000 people.

The notes on the map state: “People generally have easy access to cheap, highly palatable and energy-dense food frequently lacking in nutritional value – such as fast food.

“Research into the link between food availability and obesity is still relatively undeveloped. The concentration of fast food outlets and takeaways varies by local authority in England. The scatter plot shows a strong association between deprivation and the density of fast food outlets, with more deprived areas having more fast food outlets per 100,000 population.”

You can see the map in full, with the accompanying report, by clicking here


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