UK: More Than Half of Children Don’t Eat Any Daily Vegetables

24 Mar 2014 --- More than half of children in the UK don’t eat a single portion of vegetables a day, according to a food survey by the BBC's children-focussed news programme Newsround.

The survey shows that real eating habits for children are not even close to meeting the government’s recommendation that everyone should have at least five portions of fruit and veg a day. In some countries, such as Australia, this recommendation is higher than five portions.

The UK survey shows that 52 in every 100 children don’t have any vegetables while 44 in 200 have no fruit on a daily basis. 
This figure is of particular concern when set against the fact that one in three children in the UK is obese or overweight. This figure has trebled in the last 25 years. 

The survey also found that a third of kids said they eat unhealthy food more than three times a week, while almost a quarter ate sweets or chocolate every day. Against this, more than half of those surveyed said their diet is healthy while a fifth (21%) said their diet was very healthy. 

A further 23% said they had a take away or fast food more than three times a week, and fewer than half of kids (47%) have a home-cooked meal each day. The survey also showed that 50% of children sat down to eat as a family each day.

Children are trying to make positive changes to their diets, the findings showed. Eight in 10 children have made changes such as drinking more water or eating more fruit and vegetables. 
The survey focussed on 1,432 boys and girls, aged 7 to 12, across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. 

“It is important for kids to have a balanced diet,” Dr Radha Modgil told Newsround. “No one is saying that you can’t have sweets or chocolate every now and then but if you’re having those things every day it is going to affect your body.” 

“The body needs all kinds of things when you’re growing up and it’s so important for kids not to overload on sugary, fatty snacks.”