'Treat foods' targeted

24/11/05 UK, A campaign, developed by Safefood, the Food Safety Promotion Board, is targeting food such as chocolate, crisps, sweets, cakes and biscuits by urging parents to reduce the amount of treat foods they give their children.

“At the moment, children are eating, on average, around twice as many treat foods as they should be," Safefood nutritionist Dr Marian Faughnan said.

These contain few nutrients other than calories, fat or sugar, she said.

Research by Queen's University and the University of Ulster showed that among 12 and 15-year-olds the percentage of children overweight or obese has increased by more than a quarter in the past decade.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/4461646.stm