FAGS AND PEPERAMI – THE 21st CENTURY BREAKFAST for British school children

Shock report reveals children spend £646 million on junk food before school

British children are going to school on a junk food breakfast of Peperami and chocolate bars and parents admit they can’t do anything about it.

A shocking £646 million is being spent each year by sweet-toothed children buying biscuits, cake and meat snacks on the way to school and almost one quarter of all 7-14 year olds have a junk food breakfast of this kind regularly.

While a staggering one in every class of 14 year olds say they go to school on a cigarette, according to a new landmark report published by Kellogg’s.

Worryingly, 14pc of children say they go into an off-licence to buy breakfast, rising to 24pc of 13-14 year olds.

A top nutritionist today warned this was storing up trouble for the class room, leading to loss of concentration and poor discipline.

Public health nutritionist, Kathy Cowbrough, who was involved with the government’s Sure Start Centres, said: “How often have we all seen young children not wanting to cooperate with harassed parents, or school children unable to stay alert for valuable lessons at school? 

“This is because missing a decent breakfast means we can be saying goodbye to up to a quarter of the nutrients and energy we need for the day, making us more tired, irritable and less able to concentrate in the morning.” 

Half a million kids eat biscuits for their morning meal, 160,000 have a bag of crisps and more than 100,000 just have a fizzy drink.

Fuelling the bad food binge, 16pc of kids say their parents hand over on average £2.22 each day so they can buy breakfast on the way to school, a figure which jumps to one in four 13-14 year olds. 

The study of UK families revealed the extent to which parents know what kids are doing but do nothing about it.  A third of children say their parents are aware of what they spend their money on and are fine with it.

Many parents are resigned to their kids’ bad diet habits.  One in five admits their kids regularly eat biscuits, cakes or sweets before school starts. 

Of those who dole out breakfast money, a massive two thirds say it’s simply inevitable that this will be spent on unhealthy foods.  This figure jumps to a disturbing three quarters of parents of children aged 13-14.

This is all despite the fact 62pc of parents have serious concerns about their child’s diet and 35pc are worried about their health.

As children in this report say, the solution lies with their parents.  85pc of kids say they’d kick the morning junk food habit if mums and dads turned off the money tap and gave them something to eat before they left home.

Rachel Fellows from Kellogg’s said, “Ask any parent and I think they’d agree, a biscuit or packet of crisps are okay snacks when part of a balanced diet but they’re not breakfast.

“This report shows parents are having a tough time but we know parents want to do the right thing but something’s stopping that happening.  We all need to help parents find solutions – like open more breakfast clubs in schools - so each child can start the day with a decent meal in them.”

Jeremy Todd, chief executive of parent’s charity Parentline Plus, said:  “Parentline Plus advises parents, where possible, to sit down with your children and ensure that your family eats a healthy breakfast. The time before school can be stressful for parents as they struggle to get themselves ready for work and their children ready for school.

“Many parents work shift patterns or face a long commute to work. Breakfast clubs and extended schools services may provide a safe place for children to enjoy a healthy breakfast and can be an ideal solution to balancing work and family life. With the right guidance, parents can prevent bad habits forming and establish a healthy lifestyle which can result in the whole family being more attentive and active both in the workplace and in school.”

Cardiff is the junk food brekkie capital of Britain - 34pc of kids (eight percent over the national average) say they scoff unhealthy food before school. 

Southampton’s youngsters get top marks – they are the least likely to stuff themselves with bad food first thing, racking up a well below average of 12pc.

Young mums and dads – aged under 24 – were also more likely to hand out breakfast money with half – 49pc – saying they sometimes or often gave their children cash instead of feeding them.

When not buying brekkie from an off-licence, 69pc of kids buy their morning meal from a corner shop, 38pc from a supermarket and 8pc from a garage. 

To read the full report, it can be downloaded here, it is in pdf format.

Research company Opinion Matters conducted the study among 1000 children aged 7-14 (through face-to-face interviews), and 1,000 parents of children aged 7-14.

The facts - the brands our kids buy for breakfast

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