Hot Food Takeaways Near Schools: 400m Buffer Zone Policy

Research indicates that children attending schools near fast food outlets are more likely to be obese than those whose schools are more inaccessible to such premises. This is more likely to be the case for secondary school children as they are more independent and able to access unhealthy food themselves. A distance of 400m is recognised as a 5-10 minutes' walk, or reasonable distance which a child could walk during lunch or after school to purchase food. Within Belfast, around a quarter of children are either overweight or obese, and these figures are even higher in the most deprived wards in the LGD. The council has undertaken a survey of primary and secondary schools within Belfast LGD and identified a 400m buffer zone around each school (approximately 5-10 minute walk). These have been cross-referenced against the locations of existing hot food takeaways within Belfast and shown on Map 4. The map shows that just over half of the schools surveyed within the LGD have at least one hot food takeaway within their 400m buffer zone. There is one secondary school which has 15 hot food takeaways within its 400m buffer zone, and there are two schools which have 14 hot food takeaways within their 400m buffer zone. Regarding secondary/grammar schools (where pupils are usually able to leave the school during lunchtimes), around half of the schools surveyed have at least one hot food takeaway within their 400m buffer zone. It is assumed that the majority of schools in Belfast currently have healthy eating policies, which could be undermined by the proximity of hot food takeaways. Reducing children's exposure and easy access to hot food takeaways can reduce access to foods high in fat, salt and sugar. It is recognised that half of the schools surveyed do not have a hot food takeaway within their 400m buffer zone. However, in order to improve health and well-being amongst young people and to support one of the core principles of the SPPS, during times when children are making food choices, such as lunchtime and after school, the environment and availability of hot food takeaways should not encourage unhealthy food choices.