ONE of Tamworth's leading dietitians fears the city is becoming saturated by fast-food chains.
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Rural Fit dietitian Chris Jarrett believes more fast-food options for locals could lead to even higher obesity rates for the region.
It comes after McDonald's Australia lodged a development application (DA) with Tamworth Regional Council to open a fourth store in the city.
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"Without singling out any particular chain, it is more fast food as a whole," Mr Jarrett told the Leader.
"The issue is that it is heavily marketed, heavy in salt, heavy in calories and all of those sorts of things.
"I would have thought with COVID we were getting used to doing more home cooking, so it's unfortunate we are getting more options for food of convenience."
The DA will go on public exhibition on Thursday and a McDonald's spokesperson said if approved, the new North Tamworth store would create jobs for the region.
"We're still working through the approval process for this location and don't want to pre-empt the decision of the council," the spokesperson said.
"Every McDonald's restaurant is committed to supporting the community within the area it operates.
"If approved, the restaurant would provide a wide range of career and training opportunities for more than 100 locals."
"I wouldn't say we have a shortage of fast food outlets in Tamworth," Mr Jarrett said.
"I totally understand where McDonald's is coming from in that they are looking to have a store on all four points of the compass in Tamworth and for every entry point in town.
"People like to use McDonald's as a bit of a Bogeyman, but the reality is it could of been any fast-food outlet that could be in contention.
"Do we need more fast-food outlets? I would have said no."
Obesity rates in Tamworth have historically been high, dating back to Australian Health Policy Collaboration studies in 2017 and 2019, which showed Tamworth was well above the national average in a number of categories.
"That is still very much the case I'm afraid," Mr Jarret said.
"Those figures have been consistent for Tamworth and in particular Western Tamworth for some time.
"In my opinion none of these things help, when you've got more and more convenience food options, it means people are less likely to spend time planning their own menus and cooking at home."