London Looks To Ban Fast Food Near Schools
The United Kingdom ranks 23rd on the list of the drunkest countries in the world, and even though that doesn't sound too bad, consider that just under a quarter of all British adults are obese and one out of three British children are overweight or obese, according to the World Health Organization. London intends to do something about that. The London Health Commission will propose tough new measures to battle the obesity epidemic to the mayor, which include banning fast food restaurants from within a 10-minute walking distance from school.
The new radical measures would definitely shut down a lot of business, but they are meant to protect children from becoming addicted to junk food and fast food, according to Lord Darzi, the head National Health Service surgeon at St. Mary's hospital, who participated in research on the topic.
The proposal calls for a rewrite of London's blueprints, which would ban fast food chains like McDonald's, Burger King, and KFC, as well as pizza, Chinese takeout, and British chip shops (places that primarily sell French fries). In addition, any new fast food or takeout restaurants will be slapped with a £1,000 ($1,600) tax to be spent on measures helping to tackle childhood obesity.
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Joanna Fantozzi is an Associate Editor with The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @JoannaFantozzi