Here we go again… Or, maybe, we’re just experiencing an up-tick in a constant conversation about fast food joints and schools. I seem to remember this being a hotly contested question since Fast Food Restaurants first came on the scene…
It was at least 6o years ago that the first McDonald’s burst into the quiet west-of-Toronto town three generations of my Dad’s family called home. There was a hot debate about how close it should be allowed to the local high school. Now, the issue has reared its hoary head again. As though it’s been lying dormant like Godzilla under his volcano, awaiting an opportune moment to erupt again. Except that many more individuals and special interest groups want in on the ‘conversation’, this time.
And many more health and economic lobby groups exist now, to beat on our poor brains with their debating points. But the basics remain the same.
The specifics
On one side, the resto operators say they deserve a fair chance to attract customers. And, as you might expect, the kids are all for it. And municipal officials would like to see the lucrative added property tax licensing and other revenues pouring in.
Meanwhile, a few doors down the hall, folks concerned with community standards such traffic, loitering, garbage, truancy and related issues are sounding their alarm. And health department officials are doing their darnest to remind folks how bad fast food has been proven for the average person – especially as an agent promoting poor eating habits and obesity in young people.
The main difference I see in the current version of the debate is the much larger contingent representing the health care community.
It’s everywhere…
A quick Google search returns fairly current posts and official documents dealing with the issue, from around the world.
To bolster that point, one I found from Australia – posted just yesterday – makes the same points and comes to the same conclusions (or should I say, fails to conclusively conclude) upon the question.
“Fast-food outlets would be banned from being near schools and their opening hours slashed under a bold plan to tackle the growing obesity crisis in Western Australia,” the report advises.
That IS a bold plan, but then again, the issue is particularly poignant down-under:
“One in four children and 71 per cent of adults in WA are overweight or obese and 86 per cent of schools have at least one fast-food store within 1 km as per a report released by the state’s Department of Health.”
What is in the report?
From what I could see, the report is saying pretty much what others – from Los Angeles to London, UK, have been saying over the past few months:
The report shows the impact of proximity, location and density of unhealthy fast-food outlets on dietary intake and obesity in children.
“Between 2005 and 2010, there were 28 fast-food outlets within 3km of the average home in Perth, with only 10 healthy food outlets,” the report stated. “At the same time, the report found healthy food outlets within 800 m of a, ‘person’s home were consistently associated with a decreased risk’ of children being obese or overweight.”
Bet you can guess what the Aussie report recommends…
“The WA Department of Health flagged changes in planning laws to restrict fast-food outlets from opening near schools and slashing their opening hours.” In addition, it mamdates, “building healthy food outlets’ near schools or activity centres to ‘facilitate multiple activities as part of one trip’.”
Who or what agency would administer the latter program remains to be seen. Please don’t call me to interview for the position of switchboard operator – much less, that of Program Director.
Reading a little deeper…
I see that suggestions around the world as to minimum distances that fast food joints be allowed to locate from high school vary drastically – from 500 ft. / 150 m, to 0.62 miles (3,280 ft.) / 1 km. You can see what I meant about ‘fails to conclusively conclude’.
And so say them all. From Australia to Ottawa, Canada. The real shame is, the world is no closer to a consensus on the issue than it was 60 years ago, no matter – in spite how much more, “evidence for a link between exposure to unhealthy food environments and poor diet is accumulating.”
Politics triumphs over common sense again.
~ Maggie J.