The number of fast food outlets within five minutes’ walk of a school gate has increased by 67 per cent in the last eight years, The Times can reveal.
Child health experts have said the rise is “fuelling our childhood obesity crisis” and called on the government to stop new outlets opening near schools.
Whereas there were 9,700 outlets near schools in 2009, the number has now soared to 16,160 in England, Wales and Scotland, according to figures calculated by Allmapdata from CACI.
More than one in four takeaways are within five minutes’ walk of a school. In London, where almost 40 per cent of children leave primary school overweight or obese, there are 3,517 outlets inside the school catchment area, a 92 per cent increase since 2009.
Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, announced a plan last year to ban new outlets from opening up within a 400-metre radius of a school. However, 59 new outlets in the capital opened within five minutes of a school last year.
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Child obesity has been rising sharply, with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) reporting that a third of children are now leaving primary school obese or overweight. Health experts have warned that four in five obese children will remain overweight for the rest of their lives.
The sandwich chain Subway and fried chicken franchises have proliferated. While Subway increased its outlets by 61 per cent nationally in the past five years from 1,307 to 2,106, those within a five-minute walk of a school went up by 74 per cent.
Researchers in the US found in 2013 that the average Subway sandwich had 784 calories, compared with 572 at McDonald’s. The sandwiches also had 2,149mg of salt compared with 1,829mg in an average McDonald’s meal.
Russell Viner, of RCPCH, said that fast-food chains were “cashing in on school-age footfall” and “enticing young people and their pocket money . . . [with] devastating consequences for the overall health of our children.”
Ben Reynolds, deputy chief executive of the charity Sustain, which runs a children’s food campaign, called on secondary schools to try a “stay on site” policy for children up to 16 and demanded that the government to “ “support them with the capacity to provide these meals”.
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Professor Viner said that fast-food chains “bombarded” children with adverts. “While it’s not surprising that fast food franchises tend to concentrate in poorer areas and those with bigger populations, which means nearer schools, this is even more reason for concern.”
A spokesman for Public Health England said: “Obesity affects everyone and local authorities and the food and drink industry all have a role to play in creating an environment that encourages healthier options. This includes tackling the number of takeaways and the quality of the food they sell, especially among our most disadvantaged communities.”
A spokesman for Subway said: “Subway has a proportionally larger expansion programme in the UK and Ireland than many of our competitors, which accounts for the higher percentage of stores across the country. We . . . do not prioritise the location of stores close to where schools are situated.
“In addition, we lead the on-the-go food sector in its commitment to healthier eating, setting best practice and meeting public health policy goals.”
• Nearly half of children in some parts of Britain are dangerously obese, according to a Public Health England map which tracks the waistlines of primary-school children. It showed that 44 per cent of ten and 11-year-olds in Brent, northwest London, weigh too much, almost twice as many as in Richmond, a few miles south. Other areas with high levels of excess weight include Barking and Dagenham and Westminster in London, and Wolverhampton and Sandwell in the Midlands.