Experts have expressed their concerns about the number of sugary snacks children are eating. They have asked parents to swap brownies for apples, and chocolate bars for rice cakes, as children are consuming over three unhealthy treats per day in the United Kingdom.

 

They shared that children should consume no more than 100 calories of sugar per day.

 

Public Health England believes that parents are responsible for their children’s diets, so it is up to them to enforce healthier habits.

 

They shared that consuming sugary drinks and snacks will have a negative impact on children’s weight and their teeth.

 

 

In the  PHE study, researchers discovered that every year children eat 70 chocolate bars, 150 fizzy drinks, 400 biscuits and 100 portions of sweets.

 

Dr Alison Tedstone, who is the chief nutritionist at Public Health England, hopes this information will encourage parents to make a change. She explained to the BBC, "What has changed is kids' lunch boxes are getting full of snacking products. It leads to a lot of calories for lunch.”

 

She added, “If you wander through a supermarket you see many more things being sold as snacks than ever before.”

 

Dr Tedstone is right- The shelves of our local supermarket are full of treat sized chocolate bars and mini bottles of fizzy drinks.

 

 

It is now up to the parents to be more responsible when shopping for their children.

 

 This news follows a 2017 study which found that the number of obese children in the world had increased ten-fold.

 

The researchers discovered that in four decades, the figures have risen rapidly, “In 2016, 50 million girls and 74 million boys worldwide were obese.”

 

Author of the study Dr James Bentham stated, “More than one in five young people in the USA and one in 10 in the UK are obese.”

 

The dramatic increase since 1975 has startled parents, but these figures will help promote healthier lifestyles. 

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