Takeaway rise fears on health

THERE has been an explosion in the number of takeaways springing up in Huddersfield and Kirklees in the last six years.

According to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) the number of fast food takeaways in Kirklees has more than doubled, rising from 165 in 2013 to 335 now.

That’s the equivalent of 28 new fast food outlets appearing in the borough every year.

The figures come amid separate statistics which show high and rising levels of childhood obesity in Kirklees.

Data shows more than a third (34.7 per cent) of children aged 10 or 11 in Kirklees are overweight or obese, compared to just under a third (33.1 per cent) 10 years ago.

As well as causing weight gain, excessive consumption of takeaway food - high in salt, saturated fats and other unhealthy ingredients - can cause diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.

Tam Fry, chairman of the National Obesity Forum, said: “Local councils across the country have been trying to stem the increase of fast food shops but many claim that they have insufficient powers to stop their spread.

“Much of the food sold in them has high levels of fat, sugar and salt which is detrimental to health and strongly linked to obesity, diabetes, heart disease and some cancers,” Mr Fry continued.

“Anyone eating their main meals in them should try to restrict their orders to 1,200 calories a day.

“Unfortunately millions rarely do - which is why two-thirds of the country is overweight.”

In England there were 32,470 takeaways in 2018, according to the ONS.

That is the highest number since at least 2010 and has been rising at a rate of 1,409 per year since 2014, when there were 25,425.