Unhealthy high streets

30 March 2015
News
01 January 0001
Volume 31 · Issue 2

The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) has published a league table ranking 70 of the UK’s major towns and cities based on the proportion of businesses found in their main retail area that either support or harm the public’s health. 

The league table forms part of RSPH’s Health on the High Street campaign which aims to make high streets healthier, by encouraging businesses to take steps to promote health while also giving further powers to local authorities in the areas of planning and licensing.  Based on public and expert opinion, the Society has identified bookmakers, payday loan shops, fast food outlets and tanning salons as having the most negative impact on health, and pharmacies, leisure centres, and health services as having the most positive impact. Businesses were scored by over 2000 members of the public and experts, on the extent to which they encourage healthy choices; promote social interaction; provide access to health advice; and promote positive mental wellbeing. Based on the scoring and the prevalence of these different businesses in each town or city, they were ranked.

Places with the unhealthiest retail areas:

  1. Preston
  2. Middlesbrough
  3. Coventry
  4. Blackpool
  5. Northampton
  6. Wolverhampton
  7. Grimsby
  8. Huddersfield
  9. Stoke on Trent
  10. Eastbourne

 

Places with the healthiest retail areas:

  1. Shrewsbury
  2. Ayr
  3. Salisbury
  4. Perth
  5. Hereford
  6. Carlisle
  7. Cambridge
  8. Cheltenham
  9. York
  10. Bristol

 

RSPH is now calling on the next Government, to introduce a range of measures to make high streets more health promoting, including: 

  • Local authorities to be given greater planning powers to prevent the proliferation of betting shops, payday lenders and fast food outlets;

  • Public health criteria to be a condition of licensing for all types of business;

  • Mandatory food hygiene ratings linked to calorie and nutrition labelling for fast food outlets;

  • A limit of 5 per cent of each type of business on a high street in order to avoid oversaturation and provide affordable choice;

  • Legislation to enable local councils to set their own differential business rates to encourage healthier outlets and discourage those that are detrimental to health.

Shirley Cramer CBE, Chief Executive, Royal Society for Public Health: “While our ranking of towns and cities is by no means a reflection on whether these areas are generally healthy or unhealthy, our research does find higher concentrations of unhealthy businesses exist in places which already experience high levels of deprivation and premature mortality. We recognise that businesses investing in High Streets are important for local economies; but this shouldn’t be at any price.  The Five Year Forward View calls for us to move “further and faster” to improve the public’s health. This could be achieved by granting Local Authorities enhanced powers to create a rich mix of health promoting businesses on our high streets and encouraging businesses to promote healthy choices.”