Study finds half of children consume fast food twice a week

Researchers asked 193 pupils aged 11 to 14 living in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets about their weekly fast food habits.

The study, published on the online journal BMJ Open, found that more than half of the children surveyed bought fast food or soft drinks from a takeaway outlet at least twice a week, while one in 10 consumed products bought from these outlets every day.

The children, who attended two schools that operate an “open gate policy” at lunchtime, were weighed and measured to see if their weights were appropriate for their age, gender and height.

Of the group, 32 per cent of boys and 29 per cent of girls were either overweight or obese.

The study found that fast food and soft drink consumption was not associated with age, gender or entitlement to free school meals.

But researchers found that children from non-white backgrounds were more likely to be frequent consumers of fast foods, with seven out of 10 children from black ethnic backgrounds and more than half from Asian backgrounds purchasing fast food and drinks more than twice a week.

The report warned that this finding is of particular concern because people from these ethnic backgrounds are more prone to cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

The most commonly cited reason for buying fast food was taste, with 92 per cent of the children saying they liked the taste of the products sold in fast food outlets.

Among those who bought fast food at least two to three times a week, 71 per cent said they did so because of the influence of their peers.

Chips were the most popular fast food option for all children. Girls were more likely to buy a portion of chips without other foods than boys, but boys were more likely to buy larger portions.

When asked what would motivate them to make healthier food choices, better choice and cheaper prices were the two most popular answers given by children.

“These children are exposed to an environment that is likely to cause obesity, and it is not surprising that in this situation, many of these children are already overweight or obese, and will likely become obese as adults,” the report said.

“Clearly, actions need to be taken to either limit the ability of these children to access fast food outlets or to change what they purchase at these outlets (e.g. less calorie dense, with more fruit and vegetables, with less fat and salt)”.