Sweets at supermarket tills are ‘fuelling obesity crisis’

Parents vent frustration at checkout aisles full of junk food in survey to kickstart new campaign.

 

The Government will be urged to revisit proposals to ban unhealthy food from supermarket checkouts after a survey found that more than 90 per cent of shoppers believe the practice contributes to obesity. A campaign called Junk Free Checkouts is being launched today and aims to force supermarkets to stop selling sweets near the tills, which exploits the “pester power” of children who nag their parents to buy the snacks.


The initiative, announced by the British Dietetic Association and the Children’s Food Campaign, comes in the wake of a nationwide survey in which 78 per cent of respondents said they found junk food at checkouts “annoying”. It also found that 83 per cent have been pestered by their children to buy junk food at the checkouts and 75 per cent have given in to their children and bought something because they were pestered.

Nearly 2,000 people took part in the Chuck the Junk Survey, of which the majority were women and two-thirds had children. Health campaigners have long called for supermarkets to stop selling unhealthy snacks near the till, a practice they say is often targeted at children with promotional deals.

More on this story here.

Eddie