Academics at City University London carried out focus groups with children from the London borough of Tower Hamlets, and tracked activity in local takeaways and shops. They found high levels of after-school activity in fast food outlets with some students reporting skipping lunch and waiting for the end of the school day to eat there.
The research also found that 97 per cent of households in Tower Hamlets are within ten minutes walk of a fast food outlet and more than 69 per cent are within five minutes walk.
Martin Caraher, head of the Centre for Food Policy at City University London, said: "We were shocked by the lengths students will go to to avoid healthy food in schools and by the extent to which they are surrounded by a culture of fast food outside the gates. The government needs to introduce planning guidance for the location of fast food outlets and we must ensure that parents and children know the impact that eating from take-aways can have on their health."
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