Call for junk food ban in hospitals: Academy of Medical Royal Colleges condemn NHS for inadvertently fuelling obesity crisis.
Britain's doctors are demanding that hospitals stop the sale of burgers, cookies and sugary drinks on their premises and have condemned the NHS for inadvertently fuelling the obesity crisis.
The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, which represents the UK's 220,000 doctors professionally, is urging hospitals to put public health ahead of profit by no longer having vending machines containing sweets, chocolate, crisps and other fattening foods.
The academy is backing a call by campaigning cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, which will be debated today at the British Medical Association's annual conference, for a total ban on junk food in hospitals. Writing in Thursday's British Medical Journal, Malhotra argues: "It is obscene that many hospitals continue to have high-street fast food franchises on site, as well as corridors littered with vending machines selling junk food. Such practice legitimises the acceptability and consumption of such food in the daily diet."
Professor Terence Stephenson, the academy's president, endorsed Malhotra's plea: "In many hospital receptions patients pass by fast food outlets or vending machines selling confectionery, sugary drinks and crisps. If the NHS is to send out a message that it takes the obesity crisis seriously, it cannot recreate the same unhealthy environment inside hospitals as exists on the high street. We have to make sure patients and staff alike are offered healthy and nutritious meal choices."
High levels of obesity among NHS staff were another reason to make hospitals similar to state schools in England, which banned fattening foodstuffs from tuckshops and vending machines as part of a healthy eating drive, which also included the introduction of nutritious school meals, in 2008-09.
"For far too long, short-term financial considerations of hospital management have taken precedence over the health of the community. The obesity epidemic represents a public health crisis, but it is a public health scandal that by legitimising junk food hospitals have themselves become a risk factor for diet-related disease by perpetuating the revolving door of healthcare. It's time to stop selling sickness in hospital grounds", said Malhotra.
But the NHS Confederation, which represents hospitals, dismissed the calls. "Many NHS trusts rent space to commercial outlets, providing a service that is highly-valued by patients, their families and other hospital users. Nowadays the majority of these offer fruit, smoothies , tea and coffee,as well as a range of sweets, and treats" said Dr Johnny Marshall, its director of policy.
"And if a patient who has been in hospital for a week wants a few mint imperials, or a parent wants to buy their child who has just had a broken arm re-set some chocolate buttons, as a doctor I think that is absolutely fine", he added. The Guardian
Britain's doctors are demanding that hospitals stop the sale of burgers, cookies and sugary drinks on their premises and have condemned the NHS for inadvertently fuelling the obesity crisis.
The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, which represents the UK's 220,000 doctors professionally, is urging hospitals to put public health ahead of profit by no longer having vending machines containing sweets, chocolate, crisps and other fattening foods.
The academy is backing a call by campaigning cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, which will be debated today at the British Medical Association's annual conference, for a total ban on junk food in hospitals. Writing in Thursday's British Medical Journal, Malhotra argues: "It is obscene that many hospitals continue to have high-street fast food franchises on site, as well as corridors littered with vending machines selling junk food. Such practice legitimises the acceptability and consumption of such food in the daily diet."
Professor Terence Stephenson, the academy's president, endorsed Malhotra's plea: "In many hospital receptions patients pass by fast food outlets or vending machines selling confectionery, sugary drinks and crisps. If the NHS is to send out a message that it takes the obesity crisis seriously, it cannot recreate the same unhealthy environment inside hospitals as exists on the high street. We have to make sure patients and staff alike are offered healthy and nutritious meal choices."
High levels of obesity among NHS staff were another reason to make hospitals similar to state schools in England, which banned fattening foodstuffs from tuckshops and vending machines as part of a healthy eating drive, which also included the introduction of nutritious school meals, in 2008-09.
"For far too long, short-term financial considerations of hospital management have taken precedence over the health of the community. The obesity epidemic represents a public health crisis, but it is a public health scandal that by legitimising junk food hospitals have themselves become a risk factor for diet-related disease by perpetuating the revolving door of healthcare. It's time to stop selling sickness in hospital grounds", said Malhotra.
But the NHS Confederation, which represents hospitals, dismissed the calls. "Many NHS trusts rent space to commercial outlets, providing a service that is highly-valued by patients, their families and other hospital users. Nowadays the majority of these offer fruit, smoothies , tea and coffee,as well as a range of sweets, and treats" said Dr Johnny Marshall, its director of policy.
"And if a patient who has been in hospital for a week wants a few mint imperials, or a parent wants to buy their child who has just had a broken arm re-set some chocolate buttons, as a doctor I think that is absolutely fine", he added. The Guardian
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