Evaluating the use of planning policy to support public health
In 2015, Gateshead Council took the decision to use all of the planning powers available to them at a local government level to prevent any further fast-food outlets opening up in the borough, in order to support public health – with a particular focus on reducing childhood obesity.
You can read more about the policy here
A research project funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) North East and North Cumbria evaluated its impact.
This is the first study from the UK, to our knowledge, to provide evidence on the public health impact of planning policy to shape the food environment.
What is the issue?
Gateshead has higher than the average national levels of children who are either overweight or obese, and research has shown that the food available close to where we are is likely to influence what we eat, and therefore our health.
We also know that the food offered by takeaway outlets can contribute to becoming overweight or obese if they are eaten frequently.
As part of work to support the health of residents, Gateshead Council took the decision (in 2015) to use all of the planning policy available to them, to prevent any further fast-food outlets opening up in the borough.
Planning policy allowed them to do the following:
- Restricted new fast-food outlets near schools
- Restricted new fast-food outlets if the density of existing outlets has surpassed a certain threshold of all retail outlets (no more than 20% of all outlets can be fast-food)
- Restricted new fast-food outlets in areas where childhood obesity rates are above a certain threshold (no more than 20% based upon data from National Childhood Measurement Programme for children aged 4-5 and 10-11).
Researchers funded by the NIHR ARC NENC then evaluated the impact on two levels:
- The density of fast food outlets across Gateshead following the implementation of the policy
- The impact on child weight across Gateshead between 2015 and 2019.
What the research found
Density of fast food outlets
The work found that Gateshead’s multi-pronged planning policy approach reduced the density of fast-food outlets by around 13 per 100,000 people, and the proportion of fast-food outlets compared to other types of food outlets by around 14%.
The research and findings from part one of the evaluation were published in The Journal of Social Science and Medicine – August 2022.
Impact on child weight
The next step of this work was to look at if this change in the density and proportion of fast food outlets has had any impact on childhood overweight and obesity between 2015 to 2019, and if this did anything to reduce inequalities in childhood weight.
Researchers used data from the National Child Measurement Programme, the Food Standards Agency Food Hygiene Rating Scheme data, and the Office of National Statistics between 2012 and 2020.
The analysis found no significant change in population-level childhood overweight and obesity in Gateshead compared with control areas.
In further analysis, the researchers looked at smaller areas within Gateshead. In the most deprived areas, which had the most fast-food outlets, there was a noticeable 4.8% decrease in the number of overweight and obese children compared to other areas.
Year 6 pupils living in parts of Gateshead with the highest concentration of takeaways pre-2015 were the most affected by the policy change.
This therefore suggests that restricting fast-food outlets in areas with a high concentration of such outlets as part of a package of policies to reduce childhood obesity may help to reduce prevalence and inequalities in childhood overweight and obesity.
The findings from the second part of the work were published in Obesity – October 2024.
Recommendations
Obesity is a complex health issue that stems from a variety of causes, but we do know that where we live and work influences the food that we eat, our weight, and our health. The use of planning policy can be one way for both local and national government to help shape a healthier environment – by limiting or restricting where certain types of food outlets can be located.
The results provide important evidence for both local and national government on useful ways to promote a healthier environment in a short space of time.
Further reading
This work was featured on the BBC news website in October – Gateshead takeaway ban linked to drop in child obesity rate – BBC News