Children eat crap - it's official
BBC News reports a study which suggests that children throw away the 'healthy' stuff in their lunchboxes.
The survey of nine- to 11-year-olds suggests two out of three children regularly discard fruit, and one in three regularly throw away sandwiches. However, only one in five admitted to throwing away crisps or biscuits. And it's all down to peer pressure. Healthy stuff just ain't cool, apparently. Dr Ian Campbell of the National Obesity Forum said, 'Even if children are given healthy snacks in their lunches they will sometimes not eat them because they fear they will be ridiculed by their friends.'
(I'm trying hard to imagine the name-calling: 'Vitamin lover'? 'Nutrition fanatic'?)
Rather than wringing their hands about the immature eating habits of primary school children, perhaps teachers, parents and nutritionists could get a life and realise that as long as kids get enough protein not to be stunted, and enough carbohydrate to keep them running around, they're unlikely to come to much harm. When children become adults, they start to learn to enjoy a wider variety of foods and appreciate that they can't eat rubbish
all the time.
Children throw away healthy lunch, BBC News, 26 August 2003