Fresh and Nutritious Food: Inequality of Access Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Perran Moon
Main Page: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)Department Debates - View all Perran Moon's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Fresh and Nutritious Food: Inequality of Access
Perran Moon Excerpts(1 day, 9 hours ago)
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Gordon McKee
I agree with my hon. Friend; she makes a very important point.
If we look at a map of the areas with a lack of access to healthy food and a map of the poorest areas in Britain, we will more or less be looking at the same map. In those areas, rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease are much higher. Adults in the poorest areas eat almost 40% less fruit and veg than those in the richest areas. In Scotland, the poorest adults are 10% more likely to be overweight than the richest adults. So nobody will be shocked that life expectancy in Castlemilk is eight years lower than the national average. When the only option is ultra-processed foods, maintaining a healthy diet becomes not just difficult but financially impossible.
Perran Moon
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. As he suggests, those in the most deprived communities often face the highest obesity rates, and that is closely linked to limited access to fresh fruit and nutritious food. It may surprise some to know that coastal communities experience higher obesity rates on average than non-coastal communities. In my constituency, childhood obesity rates at reception and year 6 are significantly higher than the averages in Cornwall and the rest of the country. Without detracting from the challenges elsewhere, does my hon. Friend agree that entrenched inequalities in access to healthy food are particularly difficult to address in remote coastal areas?
David Mundell (in the Chair)
I am going to take it that that was your speech, Mr Moon. I will not call you subsequently.