Whittle’s nutrition campaign

It’s time for an end to pupils leaving school at lunchtime to buy fast food according to an MSP.

The former Olympic athlete turned South Scotland MSP Brian Whittle is calling for new restrictions on fast food vans trading near schools as a way of improving pupils’ diets.

The ideas are contained in a discussion document which includes a number of recommendations aimed at improving the health of our young people and tackling Scotland’s growing obesity crisis. The MSP’s ideas come in response to warnings from health groups that high levels of smoking and obesity mean Scotland now has the highest levels of preventable cancer cases anywhere in the UK.

The MSP has worked closely with many charities and third sector groups across the country, including several in Ayrshire.

Mr Whittle said: “Around a quarter of children starting school in Scotland are at risk of being overweight or obese – that’s a record high – and the problem is at its worst in poorer communities.

“If you are obese as a child, you are five times more likely to be obese in adulthood, which only serves to increase the risk of a ‘ timebomb’ that could overwhelm the NHS in a few years. That’s why we need to take radical action now to improve the health of the next generation.

“Schools should be a place where we can normalise the idea of eating a healthy diet and being more active, yet we’re somehow ok with pupils walking past the dining room and out to a waiting burger van or fast food restaurant around the corner. That needs to change.

“Aside from the lifelong health benefits of eating good quality, nutritious meals, it’s been shown to improve attainment in the classroom too.

“I’m tired of Scotland being known as the ‘ sick man of Europe’.”