- Quarter of secondary school pupils eat less than one portion of veg daily
- Children are now eating the same amount of fruit and veg as in 1970s
- Campaigners this shows Government’s healthy eating drive has failed
Alex Matthews For Mailonline
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School children are barely eating one portion of vegetables a day as they gorge on a diet of processed food.
The diet of Britain’s youngsters is leaving a sour taste in the mouths of healthy eating campaigners, as a new study reveals that the closest some get to vegetables are baked beans and pizza toppings, reports the Sunday Times.
Research by the Food Foundation has shown that there is a diet crisis among children with one in ten primary school pupils eating less than a portion of healthy food a day, while nurseries were also found to offer a lack of fruit and vegetables.
School children are barely eating one portion of vegetables a day as they gorge on a diet of processed food
Anna Taylor, from the Food Foundation, told the Sunday Times: ‘We are facing a massive diet-related crisis among our young people. They are eating the same level of veg as in the 1970s.
‘The five-a-day campaign has had no impact.’
The Government has desperately been trying to promote healthy eating after Britain was announced as Europe’s second most obese country.
Concerning stats by Health England, released earlier this year, also showed that nine per cent of children aged 4-11 are obese.
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Prime Minister Theresa May was recently accused by critics of watering down a raft of plans designed to slash Britain’s childhood obesity levels after she replaced David Cameron.
It was claimed by BBC documentary Dispatches that curbs on junk food advertising and restrictions on unhealthy product placement in supermarkets were among measures cut from a draft of the Government’s childhood obesity strategy before it was published.
It said a first draft also contained a pledge to halve the number of chronically overweight minors by 2026 – a cut of some 800,000 cases.
But this, Dispatches says, was changed to a pledge to ‘significantly reduce’ the number of chronically overweight minors when the full strategy was released in August.
Doctors, health campaigners and politicians criticised the long-awaited proposals to tackle child obesity when they were unveiled.
Prime Minister Theresa May was recently accused by critics of watering down a raft of plans designed to slash Britain’s childhood obesity levels
Key elements of the plan include cutting sugar in foods eaten by children by 20% and a tax on sugary drinks to raise money for school sports.
However, ministers were accused at the time of watering down the strategy, which Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt had previously said needed to be a ‘game-changing moment’ to tackle a ‘national emergency’.
Tam Fry, from the National Obesity Forum, said: ‘In the 17-year history of the Forum we have witnessed a succession of government obesity strategies peter out well before the target dates set for them and the apparent commitment by Cameron and Chancellor, George Osborne, to tackle the epidemic was the last hope we had for meaningful action.
‘That has now gone. We have been repeatedly warned that obesity will bring down the NHS and we will all suffer it if does.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt had said Britain’s obesity crisis was a ‘national emergency’
‘It is millions of children, however, who will suffer most and that is unforgivable.’
A Department of Health spokesman described the Government’s published plan as ‘ground-breaking’, adding: ‘No other developed country has done anything as ambitious.
‘The Government has intentionally taken a careful and measured approach which will reduce obesity.
‘We are taking bold action through the Soft Drinks Industry Levy to cut the amount of sugar consumed by young people. Alongside this, our restrictions on advertising and promotion are among the toughest in the world.
‘These steps will make a real difference to help reverse a problem that has been decades in the making, but we have not ruled out further action if the right results are not seen.’
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