According to this incredibly daft proposal from Salford City Council, though, they are committing a cardinal sin by opening at lunchtime.
Takeaways near schools in Salford could be banned from selling "hot food over the counter" before 17:00 to encourage children to eat healthily.
The ban would affect new outlets opened within 400m (1,300ft) of a school.Firstly, forget the 400m rule, it would soon be discarded as we have seen elsewhere.
More importantly, it's fair to say that this is nothing whatsoever to do with 'protecting' children, merely the cloak under which Salford Council - an overwhelmingly Labour one - wishes to dictate to its population.
As a policy, it's incredibly badly targeted. I mean, are Salford City Council not responsible for administration of schools in their area? If they're that desperately concerned about what their charges eat at lunchtime, they can simply stop kids leaving the premises at lunchtime, surely?
Or is that too much of an imposition on liberty for them to contemplate, so they'd prefer to restrict the choices of adults instead?
Of course not, they're not at all interested in liberty and free choice, as the BBC's Newsround illustrates.
The idea's to make it harder for children to buy things like chips and burgers on their way home from school.On the way home from school? Err, that is - and never should be - any part of Salford Council's role. It's none of their business what kids do once they have left the school gates. In loco parentis stops once school finishes, the 'in loco' bit ceases to be relevant, you see. It is parental responsibility from then on.
Rancid socialists have a big problem with parental choice, because they are terrified that parents might make choices which differ from the ones they like to inflict on others. But then, they are terrified that adults too might make choices that differ from the ones they have arrogantly assumed they have the right to dictate. Hence this policy proposal.
It's nothing to do with the chiiildren, as Newsround's choice of unelected supra-national 'expert' proves.
"The evidence is very, very clear that dietary preferences and habits are learned from the environment in which we all grow up," said food policy expert Dr Corinna Hawkes at the World Cancer Research Fund International.
"So that means in order to change our preferences, to change our habits, we have to change our environment."It is, however, a fantastic reason for the BBC to ring up anti-food nutter Aseem Malhotra again - repeatedly - for his usual extreme fantasy view on a minor story about a policy which is simply not going to happen for reasons based inconveniently in real life.
I will be on @bbc5live at 840 a.m with @nickyaacampbell discussing salford council takeaway ban during school hours #childobesity #NHS
— Dr Aseem Malhotra(@DrAseemMalhotra) May 30, 2013
I will be joining discussion on @bbcr4today just before 9a.m with @humphriesjohn school hours takeaway ban proposals #childobesity #NHS
— Dr Aseem Malhotra(@DrAseemMalhotra) May 30, 2013
I will be on @thejeremyvine show with @vanessaphelps at 12pm discussing proposals to ban the sale of fast food to kids B4 5pm#childobesity
— Dr Aseem Malhotra(@DrAseemMalhotra) May 30, 2013
Can we abolish the licence fee yet?
1 comment:
I really try not to be too hard on the BBC but allowing some "expert" from the World Cancer Research Fund to quote on a news item aimed at children is just too much. The BBC is relatively unique in regularly featuring this extremist sect whose "expert" panel of mostly professional nutritionists unsurprisingly, via the magic of meta-analysis, find that nutrition is a more important cause of cancer than the rest of us could have possibly imagined. The idea of someone from this organisation being given free rein to "educate" our kids is truly frightening.
I would comment on Malhotra but I try to avoid using bad language so I will restrict myself to saying that I am glad that I was too busy to listen to the BBC today.
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