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A planning policy put in place by Gateshead Council in 2015 to ban new takeaways has led to a reduction in childhood obesity in some areas of the borough, according to new research.

Gateshead Council introduced planning guidelines in 2015 to restrict any new fast-food outlets, to promote a healthier food environment for residents.

Researchers funded by the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) North East and North Cumbria (NENC) have evaluated the impact of the changes, and found that Year 6 pupils living in some parts of Gateshead with the highest concentration of takeaways pre-2015, were the most affected by the policy change.

By using all of the planning policy available, Gateshead Council was able to reduce the proportion of fast-food outlets in the borough by 14 percent between 2015 and 2019. It also reduced the density of takeaway outlets available, to around 13 less outlets for every 100,000 residents.

There was also a noticeable 4.8% decrease over four years in the percentage of overweight and obese Year 6 children (aged 10-11) in the most deprived areas – which also had the most fast-food outlets before the policy was implemented – compared to other similar areas across the region.

What is the issue?

Gateshead has higher than the average national levels of children who are recorded as either overweight or obese.

Research has shown that the food available close to where we are is likely to influence what we eat, and therefore our health, and 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 a 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.

These were:

• Restricting new fast-food outlets near schools
• Restricting 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)
• Restricting new fast-food outlets if 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).

A research project funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) North East and North Cumbria then evaluated its impact.

Impact on availability of takeaways

The research was undertaken in two stages. The first part of the work was to see if the policy had any impact on the prevalence of takeaways across the borough.

The findings, published in the Journal of Social Science and Medicine, showed that Gateshead Council’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%.

Read the research paper

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 weight between 2015 to 2019.

The research team compared childhood obesity data against five other local authority areas in the North East which had not made the same changes.

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 the other control areas.

The researchers then looked at smaller areas within Gateshead; those with the highest levels of deprivation.

The team used data to examine the changes in weight of children in Year 6 in Gateshead’s most deprived areas, compared with other similar areas with similar levels of deprivation in other parts of the North East.

In the most deprived areas of Gateshead, which also had the most fast-food outlets before the ban, there was a noticeable 4.8% decrease in the numbers of Year Six children who were recorded as overweight or obese, compared to other areas.

This work therefore suggests that restricting fast-food outlets in areas with a high concentration of takeaways as part of a package of policies to reduce childhood obesity may be one way of supporting the health of children.

The findings were published in Obesity, the official journal of the Obesity Society.

Read the research paper

Professor Heather Brown from Lancaster University, and formerly of Newcastle University, led the study. She said:

“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, and this research supports that.”

Following the success of this policy, Gateshead Council are sharing the results with other regions so they can make similar changes, and to help shape national policy.