Let’s start with the basics: medical evidence suggests that children do not need a diet that is different from adults. Medical experts tell us that human breast milk is the best food for new-born babies and that weaning or introducing soft food can be begin at around six months. Not surprisingly, where there has been discussion about the right age at which to make the switch away from breastfeeding, the food industry research tends to come down in favour of ‘sooner rather than later’. But once children have been weaned, current medical advice suggests parents can give their baby ‘almost any home-cooked family food, as long as it is mashed or pureed and doesn’t have any added salt or sugar’ (1).

Yet many ‘children’s foods’ are, in fact, high in fat, salt and sugar. Sustain undertook a survey of foods marketed for babies and young children, analysing the nutritional information provided for 107 foods marketed for babies and young children available from UK supermarkets (2). The report details how the UK baby food market is worth an estimated £315million annually and how many food products marketed for babies and young children carry claims about their nutritional value, such as ‘added vitamins’, ‘contains calcium’ or ‘no added salt’.

The report’s findings were concerning. Several products contained high levels of sugars and/or saturated fat, with two leading brands - Cow & Gate and Heinz - having several products that contained levels of sugar or saturated fat higher than those in adult products widely considered to be ‘junk food’. Once children get used to eating some of these items regularly, home-produced food can begin to taste bland in comparison.

This takes its toll on family meals. Either everyone has to suffer the delights of the children’s favourites or meals degenerate into a cafeteria-style selection for harassed parents who can find they have to cater to a range of tastes. According to a report in the Guardian newspaper, 43 per cent of parents prepare up to three different meals per night (3).

Marketing children’s foods allows the food industry to play on parental concerns about their child’s development. Vague claims that suggest health-giving properties and imply protection from ailments help persuade some parents that these foodstuffs are necessary. Food companies try to create positive images of happy family life based around buying and eating their products. Most of us believe we are too media savvy to fall for it, but given the lack of confidence many parents report in their own parenting skills, is it any wonder some people feel obliged to buy these products? Aggressive promotions and marketing of children’s foods can also undermine parental guidance to children on what they should be eating.

It’s not just the food we see in supermarkets that is a problem. Most restaurants commonly offer a children’s menu that consists solely of fish finger and chips, pasta, pizza or burgers. Food writer Joanna Blythman compares our expectations of a children’s menu in restaurants with French and Italian experiences: ‘In most parts of the world …children are expected to eat more or less the same as adults from a very early age.’ (4) Why don’t our restaurants offer a half-sized portion of the normal menu items instead of restricting it to such narrow choices?

But does any of this really matter? So what if indulgent parents want to make a rod for their own back and allow their kids to call the shots with a menu comprised of highly processed foods?

Like it or not, this country is facing an obesity epidemic. Obesity in children has risen by over 40 per cent in the past 10 years and the UK now has the highest rate of childhood obesity in Europe (5). Many children simply do not eat the types of foods that for generations our ancestors have thrived on. Staples such as fruit and vegetables are no longer regular items in children’s diets, while 96 per cent of children do not eat the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day (6).

This matters. It is not scaremongering to consider that poor diet may contribute to ill-health for many of our children. According to the World Health Organisation: ‘The most significant health consequences of childhood overweight and obesity that often do not become apparent until adulthood, include: cardiovascular diseases (mainly heart disease and stroke); diabetes; musculoskeletal disorders, especially osteoarthritis; and certain types of cancer (endometrial, breast and colon).’

It is quite simple: children need a good, balanced diet that includes a wide range of fruit and vegetables. The Children’s Food Campaign believes that promoting ‘children’s food’ at the expense of good food is causing huge problems for parents and children. The food industry needs to behave responsibly and ensure that children’s food is clearly labelled and not aggressively promoted to young children.

For us, if the future of food is going to be a positive one, we need to curb advertising of high fat, salt sugar foods. Just as importantly, we need investment in real food education that includes growing and cooking food at school.

Jackie Schneider works for the Children’s Food Campaign.

(1) Weaning your baby

(2) Junk food for babies?, Sustain

(3) Guardian, 16 August 2005

(4) Bad Food Britain, by Joanna Blythman

(5) Department of Health, Forecasting Obesity to 2010, 2006

(6) National Nutrition and Diet Survey