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Public Health England have announced a new campaign, called Change4Life, with the purpose to help encourage parents to provide two 100 hundred calorie snacks a day to help reduce the
overall sugar intake of young children. The campaign is being supported by a range of stakeholders – from supermarkets, schools to manufacturers in a bid to help reduce childhood obesity and
dental decay.
Public Health England are endeavouring to help parents, carers and early years practitioners by providing sound advice to help nurture healthy childhood snacking habits by promoting a new campaign “ The Change4Life campaign. The purpose behind this new policy shift surrounds the sugar-based intake of young children in the UK with a rising propensity for the consumption for seven sugar cubes or more a day from unhealthy snacks and sugary drinks“ this intake quantity can lead to a range of childhood problems, from dental decay to childhood obesity.
Public Health England found the following unhealthy consumption habits in early years children:
“On average, children are consuming at least 3 unhealthy snacks and sugary drinks a day, with around a third consuming 4 or more. The overall result is that children consume 3 times more sugar than is recommended.”
The new campaign, Change4Life, plans to nurture a more healthy attitude to unhealthy food consumption within the early years childhood landscape. The change of habit is small, from a parental standpoint. The advice is simple:
“If you’re buying packaged snacks for your kids, remember to look for 100 calorie snacks, two a day max!”
The campaign understands that, from the parental sphere of influence, changing snacking habits can be difficult. This is because parents are buying what is “on offer” from supermarkets, that kids have access to foodstuffs in cupboards unsupervised or the power of “pestering” can all have negative consequences on achieving the 100-calorie snack twice a day rule. Public Health England, the NHS and the Change4Life campaign have developed a new app, available for both Apple and Android, that can help scan food to help bring food labels to life – why not download it onto your
phone today?
Public Health England’s Chief Nutritionist, Dr Alison Tedstone, stated:
“The true extent of children’s snacking habits is greater than the odd biscuit or chocolate bar. Children are having unhealthy snacks throughout the day and parents have told us they are concerned. To make it easier for families, we’ve developed a simple rule of thumb to help them move towards healthier snacking, look for 100 calorie snacks, two a day max.”
To further help a change of habit, some of the UK’s largest supermarkets are getting in on the campaign. Tesco and Co-op will provide customers with in-store and online aids to help push people towards 100-calorie snacks. The goal is to help make it easier for a fundamental change of habit, empowering caregivers, early years practitioners and parents to provide the best possible snacking solutions for young children.
As a sign of National Nursery Trainings support for Healthy Eating and the importance of good nutrition in Early Years we are offering a free parents course with unlimited access for all of our Training Portal subscribers and those that purchase the Nutrition in Early Years course.
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