CHILDREN should be given one free portion of fruit and vegetables every day at school to improve eating habits and help curb obesity, doctors have said.

Medics also called for planning restrictions to limit the number of fast food outlets near school grounds and tough regulations to ban the display and promotion of junk foods and confectionary at checkouts.

The proposals were outlined by BMA Scotland as doctors' leaders responded to the Scottish Government's consultation on its obesity strategy, which closes today [Wed].

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The strategy, 'A Healthier Future', laid out plans to make Scotland the first nation is the world to use legislation to block retailers from selling junk food on price promotions and multi-buy deals.

Takeaways, restaurants and venues such as cinemas would also be affected by requirements to provide nutritional information on menus and calorie caps on portions.

The Scottish Government said the fight against obesity had to shift the burden from personal responsibility and focus "more on changes to the wider environment" in order to be effective.

In its submission, BMA Scotland said the Scottish Government should also consider school-based interventions.

It said: "The Scottish Health Survey has consistently shown that children in Scotland are on average eating less than three portions of fruit and veg a day, instead of the recommended five.

"The BMA believes that action should be taken to increase children’s fruit and vegetable intake by providing every primary school pupil with a free portion of fruit or vegetable on every school day."

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Currently, it is up to councils to set schools' "free fruit and vegetables" policy, but research in 2015 found that only 11 out of 32 local authorities were doing so. Of those, none were offering them to children above P3 and none were providing it more than three days a week.

BMA Scotland added that fast food outlets had also been shown to cluster around schools, encouraging unhealthy eating habits.

It said "consideration should be given to using planning policy to prevent further increases in the density of fast-food outlets near schools".

Doctors also called for restrictions on how calorie-dense items such as sweets, crisps, cakes and fizzy drinks are displayed in shops and supermarkets.

They said: "Placing unhealthy products at shop entrances, near checkout counters and at the end of aisles draws extra attention to such products. They are also often situated at eye-level or within easy reach of young children, which can encourage them to use pester power to persuade their parents to purchase snacks...Regulations should be developed to prevent unhealthy food and drink from being displayed at checkouts and in queuing areas."

BMA Scotland also said that the Scottish Government should opt for a "nutrient profiling model" to identify the foods and drinks which should be subject to price and multibuy restrictions, rather than linking it to the quantities of a specific nutrient such as transfats, saturated fats, added sugar or salt or on the calorie content alone.

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It added that "basing restrictions on one specific nutrient or high calorie content would be likely to leave a number of unhealthy food and drink products unaffected by restrictions on sales promotions."

The most recent Scottish Health Survey found that almost two-thirds (65 per cent) of adults in Scotland were overweight or obese, a figure largely unchanged since 2008.

Chair of BMA Scotland Dr Peter Bennie said: “Voluntary approaches to encourage retailers and producers to change have failed to deliver, so regulation is required.”

The Scottish Government's proposed crackdown on junk food has been backed by charities such as Cancer Research UK.

Gregor McNie, Cancer Research UK’s head of external affairs in Scotland, said: “We believe the introduction of regulations to restrict price promotions, such as supermarket multi-buy offers on unhealthy foods, will be crucial in curbing Scotland’s obesity epidemic."

However, it is likely to face resistance from some manufacturers and retailers.

The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) Scotland previously warned that tougher regulation would "hit the poorest consumers hardest" and that the regulation of promotions within retail premises "is a hugely complicated area and could create unfair disadvantage to different types of products".