Planning policies to restrict the number of new fast-food outlets leads to fewer overweight and obese children according to research led by Lancaster University.
Researchers examined the impact of policy in the North East of England where Gateshead Council prevented any existing non-fast-food commercial property from being converted into a hot fast-food takeaway.
The researchers used Government collected data that included: children’s weight from the National Child Measurement Programme, Food Hygiene Ratings from the Food Standards Agency, and deprivation and population measures from the Office of National Statistics.
The study was published in the journal Obesity.