Unhealthy food environments dominate in deprived areas

People living in lower socioeconomic areas have three times the number of fast food and takeaway outlets around them than those in less deprived areas, new research shows.

They are also shown more advertisements for unhealthy food and more shelf space is devoted to junk food in their local supermarket.

That’s according to a threeyear study by Auckland University researchers, who, in a world first, have mapped the country’s food environments and policies.

The study, led by Professor of Population Nutrition and Global Health Boyd Swinburn, looked at the composition of more than 13,000 packaged foods, food labelling, marketing and prices as well as foods sold in schools, hospitals and sport centres from 2014 to 2017. It was ‘‘obvious’’ New Zealand’s very high rates of obesity came from the ‘‘unhealthy state of food environments’’ where people were making their food choices, the researchers found.

Swinburn’s study found 13.7 fast food and takeaway outlets per 10,000 people in the most deprived areas versus 3.7 in the least deprived areas.

Children were bombarded with marketing for unhealthy food across all media, Swinburn said. From 6pm-8pm children are shown an average of eight TV ads per hour for unhealthy foods.

Food in schools was also unhealthy – of 819 schools, more than 90 per cent used unhealthy food for fundraising and 42 per cent sold sugary drinks.