\nThe answer is hard to come by but organisations and agencies have noted that there are underlying cultural forces that line up to make everyday life unhealthy, for both adult and kids.<\/p>\n
\u2018Food deserts\u2019 are an uncomfortable paradox in our developed country. The UK has a monopoly, like other rich, developed countries on the global food market and yet, in some of the most deprived areas of our own country, people struggle to afford healthy food.<\/p>\n
Food retailers are constantly driving down prices to give us cheap, fast food with empty calories and negative nutritional value. Many organisations and health professionals have also highlighted the impact of advertising too. Most adverts are designed to trigger an emotional response, and if there is one thing certain to trigger an emotional need, it is promoting food of some kind or another.<\/p>\n
Consumers, some say, need the will power and determination of a well-trained athlete to resist these adverts. And it is a daily barrage with children being bombarded too at every turn, or so it seems. From poster campaigns on main routes through towns and cities, to internet adverts and those on TV too.<\/p>\n
There is little comparison between the calories consumed and the weekly amount of exercise that campaigns tell us that we need; the 150 minutes of exercise per week would only work off a quarter of a Domino\u2019s pizza.<\/p>\n
![\"uk-suffering-child-obesity-crisis\"](\"https:\/\/www.ncchomelearning.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/uk-suffering-child-obesity-crisis-300x168.jpg\")
Fast food with little nutritional value is often a cheaper and more convenient alternative to healthier food<\/p><\/div>\n
High street domination<\/strong> Research also noted that when there was a fast food outlet within 160metres of a school, obesity amongst students aged 15 to 16 increased by 5% (WAWWD<\/a><\/span><\/strong>). This is not good news for those directly involved in the tackling the UK child obesity crisis.<\/p>\n More than just food<\/strong> Branding and design, as well as promotion, also pay a key role in how young people and children view food. Creating a \u2018must-have\u2019 to be \u2018cool\u2019 and \u2018part of common, acceptable culture\u2019 places parents under all kinds of pressures. And it\u2019s not just trainers; you lunch box needs to be cool too. Who wants to be seen eating yogurt coated raisins when everyone else has chocolate or sugar coated sweets?<\/p>\n
\nEmpty shops on high streets in deprived areas don\u2019t always welcome new tenants readily but when they do, research has shown that the new tenants are often cheap, fast food outlets.
\nNewham, a borough in London has the fifth highest child obesity rate in the UK, and a high prevalence of diabetes. The healthy school food \u2018movement\u2019 has not worked here, with only 15% of students eating in school canteens. When older students leave school premises at lunchtime, they enter a high street full of fast food outlets.<\/p>\n
\nIt isn\u2019t just food. Food spaces, for many young people, equal social spaces. But they are also associated with anti-social behaviour and littering. Chicken based fast food outlets seem to attract young people more than other fast food outlets.<\/p>\n