Parents blamed for kids’ sugary lunches

WELL-MEANING parents choosing lunchbox snacks and fruit drinks packed with hidden sugar have been blamed for shock findings that children are still consuming more than double the recommended daily amount of added sugar, despite two years of Government campaigning.

Yogurts, fruit juices, breakfast cereals and low calorie soft drinks are the key reasons youngsters’ diets are still failing to meet health targets, according to figures released by Public Health England on Friday.

‘Half of these added sugar calories are probably a result of parents who are not very well informed about food, and how much sugar there really is in things like Coco Pops,’ says Mail on Sunday nutritionist Jackie Lynch.

‘Parents read that drinking Coke is bad and, as we can see, this has had an effect on sugary soda consumption, but they do not realise the danger of sugar in other forms.

‘Well-meaning parents may be swapping sodas for the wrong thing, such as cordials or a fruit puree squeezie, but they are very high in sugar. Just keeping sugary cereals for weekends could make a huge difference. And swap a Petit Filou that has two and a half teaspoons of sugar per one tiny pot for Greek yogurt with raspberries.’

A UK-wide survey found that 13 per cent of daily calorie intake for four to ten-year-olds is added sugar.

Official recommendation is five per cent.

The majority of added sugars came from expected sources such as cakes, puddings and sweets, but the research found that 32 per cent came from hidden sugar in breakfast cereals, yogurts and fruit juice drinks.

Children are drinking marginally less sweetened drink than they did six years ago, down from 130ml per day, to 100ml per day.

The findings echo a report earlier this week which found that more than 98 per cent of packed lunchboxes in England are unhealthy.

Only 1.6 per cent of primary school packed lunches meet current nutritional standards and just one in five boxes contained a vegetable or any salad, researchers at the University of Leeds found.

Official advice is that four to six-year-olds consume no more than 19 grams, or five sugar cubes a day. For seven to ten-year-olds the advice is no more than 24 grams, or six sugar cubes. Recommended daily intake was halved in 2015 and the Government has since backed several campaigns on the dangers of high sugar consumption, such as Public Health England’s Sugar Smart 2016.