Alight here for a lighter, healthier way to eat
DOCTOR WANTS TO SEE FRUIT AND VEG STANDS OUTSIDE EVERY TUBE STATION
IMAGINE the scene. You stumble out of the Tube station at the end of an exhausting working day, gasping for fresh air. And you’re met by... not the aromas from the nearest fried chicken shop or coffee outlet, but fresh, enticing fruit.
It’s not an altogether uncommon scene. But now a top London doctor has said he’d like to see it outside EVERY London Tube station – that’s 270 of them - to help tackle the obesity crisis. Professor Sir Sam Everington said the capital needed to declare “a war on chicken shops” and the stalls would mean healthy snacks were available when people are “most vulnerable” to purchasing high in fat foods, the east London-based GP said.
“Healthy food needs to be more obviously available,” he told Tower Hamlets health and wellbeing board.
“My idea is to have fruit and veg stalls outside every single tube station.
“There needs to be a cheap, healthy alternative available at a time when people are most vulnerable to picking up something to eat.”
Sir Everington is chair of the London Clinical Commissioning Council, which brings top medical representatives from each borough together to help manage city-wide health initiatives in conjunction with City Hall, Public Health England and local authorities.
He added: “We want to declare a war on chicken shops. They seem to be everywhere and appeal to children.”
Nearly 40% of children aged 10 and 11 in London are overweight or obese, according to City Hall figures, and adults have higher obesity rates than comparable global cities such as New York, Sydney and Paris.
A fruit seller who runs a stall outside Harrow on the Hill Tube station says it’s been a tradition to have them at stations since the underground first opened.
He said: “You can see how satisfied our customers are by how busy we are and this isn’t even a busy time.
“The problem now is we’re up against the supermarkets. There used to be only one supermarket near here and now there’s four so it’s getting harder, but we’re still doing a good trade.
“There have always been fruit and veg stalls and flower stalls at stations and that should still be the case, but it’s getting harder and harder in the current climate and they don’t make it any easier for us.”
“I want to bring my son into the business but it’s too uncertain at the moment to plan a career around it.”
TfL does not manage all pitches outside Tube stations so individual councils would likely have to grant licences for stalls if the initiative was rolled out.
Next month, adverts for junk food will be axed at stations and bus stops as part of the Sadiq Khan’s plan to fight soaring rates of childhood obesity.
TfL is using a nutrient profiling model, created by Public Health England, which gives food a score based on nutrients and ingredients that should be avoided, such as high levels of refined sugar, saturated fat and salt.
The system is used by Ofcom and the Advertising Standards Authority as a basis for regulating media advertising.
However, the plan has been criticised because it could see adverts for household staples such as pesto, butter, olive oil, mayonnaise and stock cubes banned. It will also cost TfL an estimated £13 million a year in lost revenue.
Sir Everington knows what he’s talking about.
He was knighted in 2015 for his services to primary care. He said officials need to find more innovative ways of teaching families how to eat healthily.
“Last time I did my weekly shop there was a family with not a single piece of fruit in their basket,” he said.
“It was chocolate drinks and crisps. And this stuff is expensive.
“We need to get over this idea that healthy food is more expensive than eating unhealthily. It’s not. And we need to communicate that better.”
The Healthy London, an NHS programme which works with City Hall, councils and Public Health England, backed the plan.