{"id":26362,"date":"2018-11-18T15:00:32","date_gmt":"2018-11-18T15:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/?p=26362"},"modified":"2018-11-18T15:00:32","modified_gmt":"2018-11-18T15:00:32","slug":"junk-food-ads-are-leaving-the-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/junk-food-ads-are-leaving-the-station\/","title":{"rendered":"Junk Food Ads are Leaving the Station"},"content":{"rendered":"

Junk food adverts are set to be banned from Tube stations and bus stops in London to confront the rising rates of childhood obesity.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Photo by Dwayne Paisley-Marshall on Unsplash<\/p><\/div>\n

Draft plans are expected to be formally approved this coming week, which prevent the promotion of high fat, sugar and salt fast food throughout the Transport for London network.<\/p>\n

The London Food Strategy<\/a> plans were proposed by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan earlier this year to tackle what he describes as a \u2018ticking timebomb\u2019 of childhood obesity.<\/p>\n

In May he told the Metro<\/a>: \u201cIf we don\u2019t take bold steps against it, we are not doing right by our young people as well as placing a huge strain on our already pressurised health service in years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

London currently holds the status of the European city with the most overweight and obese children, with almost 40% of 10 and 11-year olds<\/a> living in the capital falling into that category. Under Mayor Khan\u2019s proposals new fast food takeaway stores would also be prohibited from opening within 400m of schools. The proposal has been hailed as a \u201cforward-thinking\u201d<\/a> by obesity experts.<\/p>\n

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Graphic by Katherine Cenaj<\/p><\/div>\n

The Standard<\/a> reported Sadiq Khan said: \u201cWhen I started looking at the statistics for childhood obesity in our city, it was heart-breaking. What I was seeing was in the poorest parts of London childhood obesity was the worst. In Barking and Dagenham, something like 45% of Year Six children \u2013 these are 10 and 11-year-olds \u2013 are overweight or obese. You compare that to Richmond, where it\u2019s 23%. This is an issue of social justice \u2013 you have the poorest children overweight and obese.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was being told stories from parents and carers with children at a tube station or a bus stop, they see these adverts for fast food outlets. The children put pressure on parents or carers to get the junk food.\u201d<\/p>\n

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London has one of the highest childhood obesity rates in Europe, with 40% of children aged 10 & 11 overweight or obese. As part of a package of measures in our new London Food Strategy \u2014 we're proposing to ban harmful junk food ads from the entire Transport for London network. pic.twitter.com\/PFfRCzlciy<\/a><\/p>\n

— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) May 11, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n