Children in England are being set up to live “shorter and unhealthier” lives because there is so much easily available junk food in cities, the country’s health chief has warned.
England’s chief medical officer, Professor Sir Chris Whitty, said in his annual report that children and families in inner-city areas are less likely to have access to healthy, affordable food options in local shops, restaurants and takeaways.
Sir Chris’s study warned they may live in what he termed “healthy food deserts” and are “disproportionately exposed to unhealthy food advertising”.
It said: “The food environment in parts of cities entrenches inequalities in health and promotes obesity.
“Healthy food deserts combine with junk food advertising to set children and adults up to live a shorter and unhealthier life through obesity and the diseases it causes, particularly in the more deprived areas of our cities.”
Poorer families suffer the most, he argued, because, per calorie, healthy food “is almost twice as expensive as unhealthy food”.
Marketing plays a part, too, as 80% of the outdoor billboards in England and Wales are in poorer areas and “many of these are advertising junk food”.
Deprived regions are often “saturated with fast-food outlets physically and online”, the study found.
Pointing to the high availability of foods rich in fat, sugar and salt, he called on ministers and local policymakers to act on the root causes of unhealthy eating in England’s cities.
Sir Chris said “meaningful change to food environments is possible”, with healthy food sales targets for businesses and specific taxes on unhealthy foods two possible solutions.
Firms could also be ordered to report on what types and volumes of food they sell, something that is voluntary at the moment and which has limited the impact of Whitehall’s attempts to persuade manufacturers to reduce the amount of fat, salt and sugar in products.
Such steps “could level the playing field for large industry actors, pave the way for progressive business and improve accountability for those who hold huge influence over children’s health”.
For seven of the 10 biggest global food and drink businesses operating in the UK, more than two-thirds of their packaged food and drink sales came from products that are classed as high in fat, sugar or salt, according to research quoted in the report.
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An “excess profits” tax on retailers or producers of products with high sugar and salt content was one idea campaigners pointed to in the report, which warned the places people shop, especially families on lower incomes, are often “saturated” with unhealthy food choices.
“This means that food-related ill health is not experienced equally by children, families and communities across the country, with children and families living in more deprived areas more acutely affected by a food system where the unhealthy options are often the most available.”
The report added that the most deprived fifth of the population would need to spend half of their disposable income on food to eat the healthy diet recommended by the government, compared with 11% for the least deprived fifth.
