Talking Early Years: Time for a Parent State!

Two Thirds of Parents Express Concerns About What Their Children Eat 

It seems strange that in 2024 parents feel the need to lead a campaign about healthy food, but with the help of the Children’s Food Campaign at Sustain, that’s exactly what they are doing. Indeed, they managed to get to meet members of parliament to share their manifesto with them. 

I never stop saying that children are our early warning system for things going wrong in society, we fail to take them seriously at our peril. Obesity is one of those warnings that needs to be heeded. The recent report released by the National Child Measurement Programme  painted a bleak picture with obesity rates doubling in small children despite the £6.5 bn spent on treating it by the NHS.  

In this podcast I speak to Barbara Crowther, Children’s Food Campaign Manager at Sustain and parent ambassador Jaynaide Powis about their comprehensive polling of over 2,000 parents conducted by Savanta and the Children’s Food Campaign which has helped determine the biggest challenges faced by parents in the current food system and their top priorities for change.  

It was fascinating to learn that whilst most parents (88%) prioritise their children eating healthily, more than two thirds worry about what their children are actually eating and say it’s a challenge to eat healthily. 

They highlight multiple issues like the cost-of-living pressures and food marketing/labelling that make parents’ job harder, as well as having to rear their children in a landscape awash with highly processed foods containing excessive amounts of salt, sugar and fat. 

The increase in children’s food with popular cartoon characters also highlights an ominous direct marketing approach targeting young children. Games on older children’s phones encourage them to sign up to takeaways which ping at 11:00 o’clock every day telling them the deal of the day. 

Listen as we explore topical questions such as:  

1. Is it time to stop our snacking culture?  

2. Do we need to go back to the days when we all learned to cook in the home economics class at school  

3. Should nurseries have free nursery food and should all chefs be trained with  credible Chef qualification such as our degree from the Early Years Chef Academy ? 

4. Do we need statutory food guidance for nurseries and childminders? 

5. Should Ofsted be inspecting food in nurseries and childminders? 

6. What further policies are needed to support them.  

Listen here to the discussion and sign up to their manifesto