A ban on fast food takeaways serving young people during school hours, film-style health classifications for food, and free “wonky veg” schemes in supermarkets are among the ideas that have been put forward by young people to tackle the obesity crisis.
It is all part of a new report that aims to give young people a voice in the obesity debate.
As well as a quarter of adults, around 19 per cent of 10 and 11-year-olds are obese and, with obesity levels rising sharply in recent decades, the government is due to launch its much-delayed obesity strategy this summer.
However, the new report – The Child’s Obesity Strategy – produced by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), the Youth Health Movement and Slimming World, has sought to find out what young people think will be the most effective methods.
It has been compiled based on in-depth workshops with young people as well as a national online survey of 570 teenagers aged from 13 to 18.
Among the problems we face, the report warns of increasingly sedentary lifestyles for young people, with children spending on average six hours a day in front of a screen compared to three hours a day 20 years ago.
An increased prevalence of high-sugar food and drinks and aggressive marketing practices by companies is also blamed.
The report says that young people want to see “meaningful and consistent” nutrition information about what they eat and drink. They also want more effective protection from the advertising of unhealthy food, so much of which is targeted at young people.
The young people said that products should include recommended nutritional information for them as well as for adults and that soft drinks specifically should state how many teaspoons of sugar they contain. They believe that food manufacturers are misleading people when they provide nutritional information per 100g rather than for the whole product. A third of the young people even support film-style age limit classification labels for food and drink.
One teenager told the researchers: “Nutrition information is often written in small and inconspicuous font, which makes it difficult to read how unhealthy the product is or the harmful effects. By making simple changes to the layout on food packaging and how it is presented, we can make a huge impact to how children are fed and what food choices they make.”
Elsewhere, the research reveals a problem with young people using their mobiles to order takeaway deliveries, especially at school during lunch and break times.
A quarter of those surveyed had ordered fast food deliveries to their schools, while more than half said they used their phones to order takeaways generally.
Furthermore, 42 per cent said they could walk from school to somewhere selling unhealthy food and drink in under two minutes.
Half of the young people called for a ban on takeaways being able to deliver to schools, while two-thirds said they should not be allowed to serve young people during school hours.
Meanwhile, 40 per cent said food ordering apps should ask the user’s age and display nutritional information.
Three quarters of parents, in a separate survey, also backed the suggestion that there should be restrictions on fast food shops serving children during school hours.
The report states: “Given the progress made on school food standards it is important not to undermine these efforts by ensuring that we make it more difficult for school children to access foods which are high in fat, salt and sugar. This could be achieved in part by restricting the delivery of fast food takeaways to schools, or ensuring fast food takeaways are prohibited from serving school kids during school hours.”
The young people also want to see more restrictions on fast food advertising on social media and online. In the survey, three-quarters said they had seen adverts for unhealthy food on social media apps.
One teenager told the report: “There should be an age restriction on fast food takeaways – so that no under-16s can buy them during school hours. This will help the child obesity crisis by educating children from a young age about what foods can do to their bodies.”
A second added: “I have noticed the amount of advertising on public transport. Whether this is posters on the side of the bus or on the back of the bus tickets. Either way, this undoubtedly encourages young people to visit the nearest fast food chain and get something unhealthy.”
Other ideas in the report include asking supermarkets to give away their “wonky vegetables” – the vegetables that are often rejected for the shelves because of blemishes or funny shapes – to children.
The idea of loyalty cards to reward the purchasing of healthy foods was also supported by a majority of the young people.
Shirley Cramer, chief executive of the RSPH, said: “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.”
You can download the report, The Child’s Obesity Strategy, via http://bit.ly/28Vs1kO