Juxtaposition at the heart of a battle society will never win
It was a juxtaposition that was hard to miss, one at the heart of a battle our society will never win. No matter how hard it tries, no matter how much money is invested, no matter if football ever comes home again or not, it will never win.
Last Thursday, in this very paper, the two lead stories on pages 4 and 5 were intrinsically linked, though the subject matter was very different.
On page 4, the story that Portsmouth has seen £20m invested into sports facilities since 2017, with another £27m committed to help residents live healthy lives by improving access to sport and leisure opportunities.
Around £7m has gone towards the new football hub at King George V in Cosham, and nearly £4m for refurbishing The Pyramids.
This was after the city’s public health team found 22.4% of adults in Portsmouth are physically inactive and 66.4% are overweight or obese.
Some more facts: last November, new NHS Digital figures showed 570 of 2,215
Year 6 pupils measured in Portsmouth were classed as obese or severely obese in 202223.
That meant 25.7% of 10 and 11-year-olds were in the highest two BMI categories as they prepared to leave primary school - above pre-pandemic levels of 21.9% in 2019-20.
A few inches away, on page 5 of last Thursday’s paper, was a story about Mcdonald’s urging residents, via social media, to support its plans for a store on a brownfield site in Titchfield .
There are 10 Mcdonald’s sites in the Portsmouth area, including Gosport and Havant, and a further 11 in the Southampton area. How many Mcdonald’s do you need? Obviously more than we have.
And how many Greggs and other take away joints are there are in our area? Probably too many, but can you blame Mcdonald’s or Greggs for opening more stores if people want to visit them?
No, you can’t, all you can do is attempt to promote a message of healthy eating, which as you can see by the above percentages isn’t getting
Can you blame Mcdonald’s or Greggs for opening stores if people want to visit them?
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You can have as many football pitches or gyms as you want, but the bottom line is this: we live in a fast food-related Field of Dreams. These places are ubiquitous. Companies build them, and people come. They will always come.
It's a very special moment for us to reiterate our support for you...”
Sir Keir Starmer to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after his Cabinet address