Fast-food outlets thrive on high street as obesity soars

A BOOM in fast-food outlets on our high streets mirrors the rise in obesity, a study claims.

- BY LUCY JOHNSTON Social Affairs Editor

The number of premises selling junk food has soared 59% in a decade as independent shops shut and are replaced with chains of takeaways, bakeries, ice-cream parlours and sweet shops.

In some locations almost every other shop sells food linked to weight gain.

The most extreme example in the study was St Peter's Street in Derby, where 46% of nearby outlets were classed as unhealthy.

It comes amid fears of a public health time bomb as official figures show nearly two in three adults in England are overweight or obese.

Health campaigners say the findings underline how Britain's food environment has become stacked against people trying to eat healthily particularly those living in town and city centres.