BiteBack2030: Youth Pod

Bite back 2030 is a youth led charity co-founded by Jamie Oliver. They work hard to reduce obesity in young people and have the ambitious aim of halving childhood obesity levels by 2030.
BiteBack2030: Youth Pod
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In cities, it is often the case that there are several fast-foods surrounding schools. With this temptation around the country, it is of no surprise that childhood obesity has more than tripled over the last 4 decades. As a result, there have been calls for fast-food restaurants to be banned from being too close to schools, with the Royal Society for Public Health advising that no fast-food restaurant should be within a 5 minute walk from a school

However, this will not solve the problem completely. Bite Back 2030 questioned young people to find out their views on the matter, and discovered that there are not enough safe social spaces for teenagers to hang out in. As a result, they are going to fast-food restaurants more often than they otherwise would.

To solve this problem,  Bite Back 2030 has proposed the Youth Pod. This is a social space designed by young people for young people. The idea is to give a safe space for young people to hang out indoors without the pressure of buying unhealthy food. The concept of the Youth Pod was conceived in 2020 and a pilot Youth Pod will be set up in Southwark, a district in central London, this September 2021. It has been strategically placed close to schools and in gang-neutral territory. Furthermore, Bite Back 2030 has managed to secure funding and essential allies for the project. In a years time, Bite Back 2030 will review the project and if it is successful, they will consider expanding the youth pod to other cities in England.

One of the cities Bite Back 2030 is considering putting a pilot Youth Pod in is Leeds. For this reason, they requested a Laidlaw scholar, myself, to look into the city to lay the ground work and find out whether it is worthwhile putting a Youth Pod there. After several weeks of research, I reported back to Bite Back 2030 with a report, survey and excel spreadsheet confirming that I believe that Leeds would be an excellent place for the Youth Pod. Leeds has a poverty and health problem (like most cities in the UK), however it already has a reputation for tackling obesity and there are currently no projects like this one going on in Leeds, so it is the ideal environment to find allies and to set up a Youth Pod for young people.

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