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Planning policies to restrict fast food and inequalities in child weight in England: a quasi-experimental analysis

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Viviana AlbaniORCiD

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Abstract

© 2024 The Author(s). Obesity published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Obesity Society.Objective: England has one of the highest childhood obesity rates in Europe. To promote a healthier food environment in 2015, Gateshead Council in North East England introduced planning guidelines effectively banning any new fast-food outlets. Our aim was to investigate whether this policy led to any reductions in childhood overweight and obesity prevalence and the inequalities in these outcomes. Methods: We 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. We estimated a difference-in-differences model employing propensity score matching to identify a control group. Results: We found no significant change in population-level childhood overweight and obesity in Gateshead compared with control areas. In subgroup analysis by area-level deprivation, we found that the quintile of deprivation with the highest proportion of fast-food outlets had a statistically significant reduction of 4.8% in the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity compared with control areas. Conclusions: 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.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Xiang H, Goffe L, Albani V, Akhter N, Lake AA, Brown H

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Obesity

Year: 2024

Volume: 32

Issue: 12

Pages: 2345-2353

Print publication date: 01/12/2024

Online publication date: 23/10/2024

Acceptance date: 10/06/2024

Date deposited: 04/11/2024

ISSN (print): 1930-7381

ISSN (electronic): 1930-739X

Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Inc

URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.24127

DOI: 10.1002/oby.24127

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