Written by Upon leaving the gym at Colchester Leisure World recently, James and I were discussing the ethics of having a fast food restaurant on the ground of a leisure centre.
My own personal belief is that it encourages kids and teenagers to eat fast food after a work out as it’s a nice easy option when you have worked up an appetite. I’m sure that you could put a healthier option there, or what about a sports shop? With the government allegedly so concerned about childhood obesity, surely they should be making tougher laws about the positioning of fast food outlets. To have a fast food outlet outside a leisure centre sends out all the wrong messages.
I also object to smokers who insist on lighting up as soon as they get outside – they stop in the doorway and again send out the wrong message. There are outdoor courts and people using those should be entitled to breathe air that is as clean as possible. Again I think there should be an exclusion zone around leisure centre perimeters.
It is a difficult one, as everyone has the right to choose, but seeing as people seem to be fine with being told what to think and do by the media, I don’t see they would necessarily have cause to complain about these measures.
However, due to the vast amount of tax that fast food restaurants and smokers pay the government, I doubt that common sense measures like these will be introduced.
Everything is about the almightly pound…