A new survey by BBC programme Newsround has found many children still aren’t getting enough fruit and veg.
>> The poll, of children in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, asked 7-12 year-olds questions about their daily diet and revealed:
• 52 in every 100 kids don’t eat any vegetables
• 44 in 100 consume no fruit on a daily basis
• A third of kids (33%) said they eat unhealthy food more than three times a week
• Almost a quarter (22%) eat sweets or chocolate every day
• 23% have a takeaway or fast food more than three times a week
• Fewer than half of kids (47%) have a home cooked meal each day and only half (50%) sit down to eat as a family every day
One in three children in the UK are overweight or obese – a figure which has trebled in the last 25 years.
However, 57% of the children polled said their diet is healthy, including a fifth who say it’s very healthy.
The survey also showed that lots of kids are trying to make positive changes to their diet, with eight out of 10 children making changes like drinking more water and eating more fruit and vegetables in the last few years.
Children’s Food Trust head of nutrition, Patricia Mucavele, says: “Some of these findings are really encouraging – almost all children say they’re trying to eat better, by doing things like drinking more water and eating more fruit and veg. So children’s understanding of what a healthy diet means seems to be improving.
“But that’s not always translating into how they actually eat day-to-day. That’s where good food in childcare and in schools has such a fundamental role – helping children to get into healthy habits from the very start. The next government has a big responsibility to protect and build on what’s working well on food in nurseries and schools, to make sure we’re giving all children the best start when it comes to nutrition.”
