This is a super-long post. I’m not going to embellish it with pretty pictures, because it’s not a pretty read. I appreciate that this might put you off reading it, but so be it. I’m a fun, bubbly person, but on some matters I’m deadly serious. This is one of them. It’s Mental Health March, …
Category Archive: Children and Families
Jan 16
100-Calorie Snacks for Kids?
Recently, Public Health England launched a campaign encouraging parents to limit children’s snacks to no more than 2 a day, with a maximum of 100 calories per snack. If you’re in the UK, you may have seen the adverts. The data behind this campaign are alarming. According to PHE, children aged 4-10 get over half …
Jan 12
National Obesity Awareness Week
This week is National Obesity Awareness Week, so it seemed appropriate to talk a little about obesity and separate fact from fiction. I’m probably going to be a little controversial here; as an obese person myself I’ve certainly had time and opportunity to formulate my own views. What is Obesity? The NHS defines an obese …
Aug 25
Childhood Obesity Strategy: Not a magic bullet; may be missing a trick
Last week the Government launched its long-awaited Childhood Obesity Strategy. Cue MPs on both sides of the house dismissing the strategy as ineffective, and social media trolls decrying the role of the nanny state and demanding that parents take responsibility for removing junk from their child’s diet, or risk their offspring being taken into care. I …
Jul 22
Cut the Sugar in Children’s Diets to Prevent Heart Attacks?
A study published in the journal ‘Atherosclerosis’ is making headlines this week (1). According to press articles (the original article isn’t available for public viewing yet), substituting starchy carbohydrates for sweet ones can improve some of the key markers for heart disease in children in just 9 days (2). As someone who makes a living from …
Jun 23
Children’s Sugar Intake Soars; is there an Alternative? (Part 2)
In last week’s article, I discussed the amount of sugar children in this country consume on a daily basis. I also suggested how parents might encourage the development of a healthier relationship with food, and indeed with oneself. I am well aware that general statements are not enough, and that they don’t apply to every person in every …
Jun 02
Children’s Sugar intake Soars; is there an Alternative? (Part 1)
Children’s sugar intake is alarmingly high, suggests a recent survey of children’s diets. The average schoolchild eats around 19 teaspoons of sugar a day; four times the advised daily intake for children. Meanwhile 27% of 5 year olds have tooth decay (1), and hospital admissions for children and teenagers with obesity-related complications have quadrupled in …