This week, the Government of Ireland’s Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald, announced that her department is looking at using planning powers to restrict children’s access to junk food around schools.
It comes alongside a new report from the Growing up in Ireland longitudinal study showing that one in four (26%) of nine-year-olds are either overweight or obese.
The Minister told the Irish Examiner that: “We are in discussions with the Department of Environment to see if our planning regulations can be changed to ensure that in decisions about the location of fast food outlets, if there is proximity to a school, that that should be a reason to think again about whether or not it should get planning permission.â€
A number of local authorities in England already use their planning regulations to help schools support their pupils to eat more healthily.
Our Chief Executive, Judy Hargadon, says: “We have consistently supported local authorities that are already taking steps to use their planning powers to limit children’s access to unhealthy takeaways near schools – it’s a common sense solution.
“This can help to make sure the hard work to improve school meals isn’t undermined by easy access to unhealthy food right outside the school gates.â€
It follows our ‘Temptation Town’ research which found an average of 23 junk food outlets for every secondary school in England.
