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WALTHAM FOREST: Council claims credit for reduction in obesity

7:00am Tuesday 16th March 2010 in


A DROP in childhood obesity rates in Waltham Forest is partly due to the council's ban on fast food outlets opening near schools, the authority has claimed.

NHS figures show that the percentage of Year 6 pupils in the borough classified as obese has decreased slightly in the 2008/09 school year by 2.2 per cent.

There have also been slight reductions in the percentage of Year 6 pupils classified as overweight and the proportion of reception-age children classified as overweight or obese.

But a shocking one in five Year 6 pupils and one in 10 reception-age children in the borough are still obese.

The council, on the first anniversary of its policy to prevent new fast food takeaways opening within 400m of schools, leisure centres and parks, says the scheme has helped Waltham Forest “buck the trend” by reducing obesity.

This is despite the policy only being in place for the last four months of the period measured.

A total of five applications for new hot food takeaways have been made since the scheme was launched and all have been rejected.

The number of hot food takeaways in the borough has dropped from 253 to 241 during the same period.

Cllr Terry Wheeler, cabinet member for enterprise, said: “We are delighted that no new fast food outlets have opened in this borough in the last year and we are continually looking to build on our progress by looking for ways of encouraging our existing takeaways to offer healthier foods to residents.”

A council spokesman said the authority is not claiming the ban is the sole reason for the obesity decrease, and said the policy has been supported by secondary schools routinely banning pupils from leaving the premises at lunchtime.

Waltham Forest Council became the first authority in the country to impose restrictions on the opening of fast food outlets following a consultation which showed nine in 10 residents supported the move.

The authority says it has had inquiries from 15 other councils who want to set up similar schemes.

The policy has at times proved controversial, more than 100 people signed a petition against the enforced closure of Bamboo Joint, in Leytonstone High Road, which had not obtained planning permission and was close to several schools.

The owners of the Jamaican food outlet denied their food was unhealthy.

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Comments(18)

Touchwood says...
1:49pm Mon 15 Mar 10

Pity they can't slim down the Councillors allowances!!

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woodboy says...
8:54am Tue 16 Mar 10

Is anybody taking notice? This policy is a sham and the council is blatantly lying. A new fried chicken takeaway opened across the road from Wood Street primary school about six months ago, selling chicken and chips for 1 pound. Kids walk down the high street munching the stuff (often with their useless parents in tow.) I approached the council who said the policy only applies to people seeking to CONVERT a building into a fast food shop. So anyone is free to open a new fast food takeaway in any empty premises that has existing A3 permission to be one. I said 'can't you change that rule?'. I was stared at by a blank, puzzled face in response.

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Helen, Walthamstow says...
9:02am Tue 16 Mar 10

Come, come, woodboy. Let's not be ungracious. You have to admit that the local authority has taken pounds off us all!

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ITISMEAGAIN says...
10:06am Tue 16 Mar 10

Helen, Walthamstow wrote:
Come, come, woodboy. Let's not be ungracious. You have to admit that the local authority has taken pounds off us all!
And keep braging about what good service they are giving us. Dirty Roads ,full of potholes,selling off resident homes for he elderly.Allowing contractors to send untrained, unvetted agency staff, into the Homes of the elderly people of this borough. Not allow take aways near schools, But give the kids a free bus pass so they don't have to walk to the nearest take away.

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NT says...
10:48am Tue 16 Mar 10

A shameful and absurd claim, well exposed within the story.

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marsdan says...
12:52pm Tue 16 Mar 10

I have never heard so much cheak .
Woodboy is right.
When the than leader of the council Clyed Loakes (and counciler for Leytonston)made what can be discribed has a raid for the take away on High Road Leytonstone in looked has every Take away shop would close but instead the councilers have been so incompintant that shops are still springing up every where in Waltham forest and the shops that are there have been given prommision to opan for longer hours including Taxes cjhicken in High Leytonstone.

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sensibility says...
1:03pm Tue 16 Mar 10

Perhaps its more likely to have something to do with the Council's schools not giving the children junk food at lunchtimes

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jack de large says...
2:56pm Tue 16 Mar 10

This close to an election I would expect the Labour/Liberal Democrat Council to be clutching at straws but this isn't much of a straw. If you look at the council's planning policy which was created in 2006 there is a restriction on the number of non-retail units that can be put in a shopping parade, so the idea of restricting hot food take-away's (nonretail) has existed for four years.

I would suggest another reason why obesity might have been reduced among school children, at the risk of being controversial, could it have something to do with the number of children in our schools from Eastern European and African countries where there are far fewer hot food take-away's therefore the likelihood of obesity is less?

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Walthamster says...
5:08pm Tue 16 Mar 10

You're all being very unfair. The sun came out today, and I know it was because Waltham Forest council told it to!

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March Hare says...
5:12pm Tue 16 Mar 10

And the Jamaican food isn't the only jerk (see picture of Cllr Wheeler)! At least while Uncle Terry is stuffing his face with pizza he won't be making his usual embarrassingly inept foot-in-mouth gaffes!

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sensibility says...
9:15pm Tue 16 Mar 10

Brilliant reporting by London Tonight showing hot dogs, pizza and hash browns being served at Frederick Bremer School - what happened to healthy eating in schools at lunch time. Looks like LBWF has mud on its face again !!!

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stevewhite says...
11:45pm Tue 16 Mar 10

Muppetry of the highest order. How dare they make this totally absurd claim with so little real evidence. Yes there are less fast fat outlets but there are still a lot of them.Then we come to the evidence. Sorry guys this is not evidence. It is beyond belief that you would cite this fact as evidence. Really! Whatever next? They will be claiming that they know how to run a council next. That really is unbelievable.

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Techno2 says...
12:17am Wed 17 Mar 10

Glad to see the councillor has opted to set a good example by eating his yummy pizza with his bare hands. More of our public figures should show they support the zero tolerance policy for knives in schools. I am a bit worried though that the tissue might be a dangerous source of swine flu if he doesn't bin it promptly.

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Touchwood says...
9:29am Wed 17 Mar 10

Why did the Guardian have to publish a spew-making photo of 'Terrible Terry Wheeler Dealer', the council's officer for fiddling, stuffing his gob? Haven't the residents of Waltham Forest suffered enough?!!

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Morris Hickey says...
9:33am Wed 17 Mar 10

"Reduction in obesity". Does that mean the council is culling the numbers of its own fat cats? Thought not!

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Fishy Bristol says...
1:34pm Wed 17 Mar 10

You should see the stodge and fat they churn out of the Town hall canteens

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Fishy Bristol says...
1:34pm Wed 17 Mar 10

You should see the stodge and fat they churn out of the Town hall canteens

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AirForceOne says...
5:21pm Wed 17 Mar 10

what a load of loblocks

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