Parents who give kids half a day’s sugar before school

PRIMARY school children are getting half their daily recommended sugar intake before they leave home in the morning, official figures reveal.

Thousands are starting the day with calorie- laden breakfast cereals, spreads and fruit juices.

Yet most parents seem blissfully unaware that such foods are bad for their children. The majority of adults whose youngsters eat too much sugar each morning believe they are giving them a ‘healthy breakfast’. The Government recommends youngsters aged four to six have no more than 19g – or five teaspoons – of sugar a day. Seven to ten-year-olds should consume no more than 24g, about six teaspoons.

But data published today by Public Health England reveals children aged four to ten consume more than 11g of sugar at breakfast time alone – almost three teaspoons of sugar. By the end of the day they consume more than three times the recommended amount, officials found as part of research for the National Diet and Nutrition Survey.

A separate survey of 200 parents found that among those whose child consumed three or more teaspoons of sugar before 10am, 84 per cent considered their child’s breakfast to be healthy.

Many may be unaware of the high sugar content in popular cereals such as Frosties, Cheerios and Coco Pops.

Nearly half a million under11s in the UK are obese – one in ten of all children when they start primary school and one in five by the time they leave.

Simon Stevens, chief execu- tive of NHS England, last year said parents were doing lasting damage in the way they bring up their children and warned of a rising tide of avoidable type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Dr

‘Doing lasting damage’

Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at Public Health England, said of the latest study: ‘Children have far too much sugar, and a lot of it is before their first lesson of the day.

‘It’s crucial for children to have a healthy breakfast, but we know the mornings in a busy household can be fraught.’

She said parents could easily find out how much sugar is in different products using online tools such as the PHE’s Be Food Smart smartphone app.

This can ‘take pressure off parents’, she said, ‘ helping them to choose healthier food and drink options’.

Sara Stanner, of the British Nutrition Foundation, said she was alarmed at the number of breakfasts high in sugars and low in fibre found by researchers.

‘We know a healthy break- fast can make an important contribution to children’s vitamin and mineral intakes and its consumption has been linked to many positive health outcomes,’ she said.

Kawther Hashem, of campaign group Action on Sugar, called the findings ‘concerning’. The Government plans to introduce a sugar tax on fizzy drinks in April next year in order to slash rates of obesity among primary age children.

But ministers were accused of ‘watering down’ tougher measures that only require voluntary action and goodwill from food companies.