Whanganui Intermediate School principal Katherine Ellery said students from Whanganui schools often visit fast food outlets on Victoria Avenue straight after school ends. Photo / Bevan Conley
Whanganui Intermediate School principal Katherine Ellery said students from Whanganui schools often visit fast food outlets on Victoria Avenue straight after school ends. Photo / Bevan Conley
Fast food outlets can be hot spots for students after school, with one professor suggesting the development of new premises near schools could be regulated.
Whanganui reporter Eva de Jong asks principals and outlets what they think.
Whanganui City College deputy principal Valerie Rooderkirk says there are several fast food outlets located less than a 1km walk away from the central city school.
She says Wi-Fi and cheap food make them a meeting point for students from multiple Whanganui schools.
“When fast food outlets have those things readily available, that’s where kids are going to go and sit and catch up,” Rooderkirk said.
Just down the road, Whanganui Intermediate School principal Katherine Ellery said fast food outlets were often packed with students after school and it was “pretty concerning”.
“From 2.45pm onwards, it’ll be 45 minutes of chaos.
“As a community, we all need to be aware that our children are meeting in that environment - and are we okay with that?”
Ellery said it would be good if students weren’t served when in school uniform or within an hour of the school bell ringing, but for that to work, there would have to be a collective agreement between fast food outlets.
“I’d love that, because what that would tell me is they’ve gone home and got changed, and are 100 per cent under their parents’ care.”
A McDonald’s spokesman said while there had been no recent reports of issues or patterns regarding antisocial behaviour from students after school, as with any retail business, McDonald’s had procedures in place to deal with incidents as they occurred.
“We strive to make McDonald’s restaurants an inclusive and safe space for all our customers. Banning anyone is a last resort, and we’d suggest there may be unintended consequences in calling on the likes of McDonald’s to ban specific groups of people.”
The spokesman said Darren and Jacinta Rowland had been the Whanganui franchisees since 2007, raising their family in the city, and they currently employ over 150 locals, many of whom are students.
“They take their role in the community very seriously, supporting a wide range of causes. They also liaise with schools, police and other organisations to play a positive role in Whanganui. "
Waikato associate professor Victoria Egli says repeated exposure to unhealthy food and drink normalises consumption.
A recent study Egli undertook in Auckland shows a statistically significant relationship between the amount of unhealthy food and drink advertising around the school and the socio-economic deprivation of the area.
“We know that repeated exposure to unhealthy food and drink normalises consumption, and what that does is lead to unhealthy dietary patterns.”
Dietary patterns that were established in childhood were generally carried forth into adulthood, she said.
“If you’re a kid that gets into the habit of going to a fast food outlet after school, then you’re much more likely to be an adult who does the same thing after work.”
A Restaurant Brands - which owns KFC and Pizza Hut - spokeswoman said they worked with media agencies to make sure advertising content reached the right audience, in line with Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) guidelines.
Burger King was also contacted for this story.
Rooderkirk said students bought fast food because it was the most affordable option.
“When it’s cheaper to buy a frozen coke than anything else reasonably healthy, what are you going to choose?”
Egli said the Government and local councils could make policy decisions, such as banning the development of new outlets near schools .
A McDonald’s spokesman said the location of McDonald’s restaurants relates to factors such as traffic, accessibility, trading conditions and zoning.
They were aware of some academic research released earlier this week, but were still reviewing the detail and methodology.
“We have a range of measures in place relating to schools and potential exposure to McDonald’s advertising.
“This includes placing no out of home advertising within 300m of a school, which includes the digital billboards in Whanganui. Our restaurants also do not have any exterior posters or banners promoting food if they are located near schools.”
Government announces new funding for free school lunches
“If kids were having to bring their lunch, they wouldn’t. They’d bring money and buy deep-fried chicken and chips.”
The school lunches programme currently feeds about 235,000 students at schools across the country - with the new funding keeping the scheme going until the end of 2026.
Egli said Kai Ora, Ka Ako offered an alternative to the environment kids were growing up in that was “dominated by ultra-processed food and drink companies”.
In Whanganui, 26 schools are also served breakfast through the KickStart breakfast programme.
Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.
