UK MPs recommend ban on fast-food joints in hospitals

UK MP’s have urged the NHS to play its part in controlling obesity, by banning fast-food outlets from hospitals.

The health select committee of parliament has said that NHS properties continue to serve foods high in sugar, fat and salt, and that it should stop the promotion of food items that are dense in energy and poor in nutrition.

The committee also published a report that looked at the importance of physical activity and diet on public health, and came out with the conclusion that there was a need to pay greater emphasis on being active.

In its suggestions and recommendations, the committee said that after the successful introduction of traffic light labelling on food products, there was a need for Public Health England to support the campaign to explain the scheme to the public, so that they could more easily make healthy food choices.

The report also endorsed the view of Professor Theresa Marteau, an expert in public health at Cambridge University, who stated that hospitals were being negligent by allowing fast-food outlets to operate on their premises.

NHS England CEO Simon Stevens said: "The NHS is being pennywise but pound-foolish, selling junk food that ultimately just lands more people in hospital, with expensive, preventable, obesity-driven illnesses.

"So as these fast-food concessions come up for renewal, hospitals should demand healthier, tastier, affordable alternatives."

MPs have also asked the NHS to invest more in treating obese patients through weight-management programs, such as Weight Watchers.

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Image: UK’s MPs have suggested that fast food outlets should be banned in hospitals to promote better eating habits. Photo: courtesy of KEKO64/freedigitalphotos.net.