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The most recent research on
the growth in places selling ready-to-eat hot food comes from the University of
Cambridge, where academics found that the number of take-away outlets in
Norfolk area rose by 45 per cent, from 265 to 385 shops, over the last 18
years.
The study, carried out at the
University’s Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR), has also
revealed that the biggest percentage increase took place in the most deprives
areas, which tend to have the highest obesity level.
The public health implications
are huge, as diets consisting of large amounts of salt and saturated fats are
all linked with obesity and chronic illness.
Health Survey for England
revealed that 25 per cent of adults, on average, were obese in 2011-2013,
compared to a lower 15 per cent twenty years before.
However, grown-ups are not the
only ones bearing the brunt of an unhealthy diet consisting of fried chicken,
fish and chips and kebabs.
According to 2013-14 data
released by the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP), 19.1 per cent of
10-11 years old kids in England were obese and a further 14.4 per cent were
overweight. The programme, which measures the height and weight of around one
million school children every year, has also highlighted that over a fifth of
4-5 year olds were overweight or obese during the same period.
While local councils throughout
the country are planning measures to restrict the development of junk food
shops, most London boroughs gathered in 2010 to put in place new regulations to
introduce a limit on the number of fast food outlets allowed in a specific
district and to fix a minimum distance requirement of 500 metres between school
buildings and these kind of shops.
Not by chance, London is
the city with the highest rate of childhood obesity. In fact, 34 per cent of
primary school kids in the capital are overweight, not to mention that one in
three is obese.
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