27/10/2009
Fit children given fat food
choices
Our report exposes unhealthy food options where young people
exercise
Lack of regulation allows leisure centres to sell our kids
unhealthy foods which cannot be advertised on children’s TV or sold
in school vending machines, according to the report A Fit
Choice published by us today - download
a copy of the report here
The report, prepared by the Food Commission on our behalf,
reveals how places where children go to get fit and active
- including leisure centres, bowling alleys, ice skating rinks
and park cafes - undermine the fight against childhood obesity
by offering kids a barrage of unhealthy products through vending
machines and junk food meal deals.
Key findings from A Fit Choice include...
- Vending machines dominate venues – Every
vending machine found at the venues visited stocked products loaded
with fats, salts and sugars which cannot be advertised on
children’s TV or sold in school vending machines.
- Junk food meal deals monopolise children’s
menus – Fresh fruit was displayed at less than half of the
venues visited and children’s meal deals were awash with fried food
options including chips, nuggets, sausages and burgers all of which
have been significantly restricted in schools.
- A lack of nutritional information –
Nutritional information was displayed at just two of the venues
visited, severely limiting kid’s and parent’s ability to assess the
nutritional values of the products they are buying.
Peter Hollins, Chief Executive of the BHF,
said: "The average calorie content of the 21 vending machine snacks
found most frequently was 203 calories. A 7 year
old would need to do a staggering 88 minutes of
swimming to use that up.
"It’s fantastic that these kids are getting fit and having fun
at the same time but this is being undermined by venues peddling
junk food at them. Councils and leisure providers need to
rigorously reconsider the food options they are providing and make
it easier for parents and children to make healthier choices."
We are now calling for public and private sector providers to
lead the way in ensuring healthy food options are available and
easily identifiable, and for the School Food Trust criteria for
vending machines to be adopted by leisure venues.
Further media enquiries
For more information, please contact
the BHF press office on 020 7554 0164 or
07764 290381 (out of hours) or email newsdesk@bhf.org.uk
Notes to Editors
Download
a copy of A Fit Choice? here
Researchers visited 35 publicly accessible
leisure venues in and around London within a three week period from
July 2009 to August 2009.
The BHF Food4Thought
campaign is aimed at tackling childhood obesity
and encourages parents and children to make informed and healthier
food choices and lead an active lifestyle.
