Promoting healthy eating in Bradford discussed at meeting

Public health officers have also expressed “frustrations” at how little control the council has over the number of takeaways in some areas, with claims that some shopping streets seem to have a fast food business in every second unit.

Bradford Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee was given an update on the Bradford Good Food Strategy at a meeting on Thursday evening.

Members were told that part of the strategy sees officers working with several takeaways to pilot healthier menus – including smaller portions and food that may be grilled instead of fried.

Keighley Health Living has been commissioned to lead on the ‘Living Well Takeaways’ programme - a three-year programme to work with takeaways to improve their offering “so they can become healthier and more sustainable".

A small number of takeaways have taken part in the first year of the scheme, which will soon be rolled out on a wider scale.

But members of the committee argued that encouraging people to eat healthier diets was made more difficult by the huge number of fast food outlets in the district.

Sue Crowe, director of Equality Together, said: “When you’re travelling to BRI every, other shop seems to be a cake shop, an ice cream shop, or a fast food outlet.

“I checked before this meeting, and at one takeaway you can buy a bucket of chicken, chips, and a coke for £2.99.”

Tim Howells, head of public health, said: “More deprived communities seem to be swamped with fast food takeaways.

"We are doing work with takeaways, but a big part of changing things will be working with schools, so children are able to make informed decisions on what is the healthy option and what is the unhealthy option.”

Councillor Paul Godwin (Lab, Keighley West) pointed out that foods deemed unhealthy were often very popular, saying in Keighley the most popular food was curry and onion bhaji.

Rose Dunlop, deputy director of public health, said: “We’re not saying there is bad food and good food, we just want people to have a better balance.

"We don’t mean you can’t have deep-fried fast food now and then, it is about getting the balance right.

"Most people would be full after a child-size meal, it might be about encouraging people to have smaller portions.

Bradford Council wants residents to have healthier diets

“We’ve worked with takeaways, but a lot don’t want to stop selling sugary drinks. They don’t want to be known as the place that does small portions. They don’t want to be known as the place that grills instead of frying.”

She said if more people chose healthy options, demand would change, and this would lead to a change in the types of food takeaways offered.

Officers were asked whether the council’s planning system could be used to stop the proliferation of takeaways in Bradford.

Mrs Dunlop said Bradford introduced a policy in 2014 that prevents takeaways from opening within 400 metres of a school, park, or public space that would be used by children – unless it was in a city, town, or village centre.

But it did not give the council the power to shut down existing takeaways.

She said: “It did help, but by then the horse had bolted.

“We have looked to see whether we could review planning for a takeaway if it changed hands, but unfortunately that can’t be done.

“We had some of the refusals of takeaways overturned by Whitehall at appeal.”

Explaining some of the issues, she said if a takeaway or drive-thru has a large enough seating area inside, it can class itself as a restaurant – meaning it is exempt from planning rules limiting takeaways.

She added: “There is a whole world of complexities. If it was an easy nut to crack, we would have done it, but it is a frustrating area.”

Councillor Mozalfa Ilyas (Lab, Clayton and Fairweather Green) suggested social media could be used to promote healthier eating. She said: “Is it worth tapping into local influencers? That would reach a huge market.”

Mr Howells said: “We’ve discussed it, but you can’t always control what they do. Other authorities have been burned in the past. They’ve asked an influencer to do one thing and they’ve been paid by another company to promote something else.”