Doctors call for fast food restaurants to be banned near schools

'This just wasn’t the case 20 or 30 years ago. People tend to eat what’s in front of them and we need to make it easier for children to make the right choices'

Almost one in 10 four and five-year-olds are reaching dangerous levels of fat, figures show (Shutterstock)

Doctors said councils should have more powers to keep junk food away from children following a rise in childhood obesity, according to a report.

One measure would let authorities stop fast food shops opening within 400 metres of every school in the UK.

The proposal should form part of the Government’s updated childhood obesity strategy, due to be published this summer, according to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

President professor Russell Viner told The Daily Telegraph: “Kids are coming out of school hungry and finding themselves surrounded by cheap chicken shops, chip shops and other types of junk food.

“This just wasn’t the case 20 or 30 years ago. People tend to eat what’s in front of them and we need to make it easier for children to make the right choices.”

Childhood obesity is on the rise, with almost one in 10 four and five-year-olds hitting dangerously fat levels, figures show.

Obesity among children in the first year of primary school rose for a second year in a row in 2016-17, according to NHS Digital data.

Another proposal would reportedly see children regularly weighed and measured from birth through adolescence.

The House of Commons’ Health and Social Care Committee will hold hearings on the issue next month, with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health reportedly calling for the measures as part of a submission.

Another study from University College London last year found more than one in three teenagers is overweight or obese.

Deprived areas of the country are particularly affected, with more than double the number of obese children compared to more affluent areas.

PA