Nursery World - Food survey attacks snacks

Children as young as four are eating up to 80 food additives a day, 50 of which are found in snack foods, according to a report by the children's food company, Organix. The report, Carrots or Chemistry? Snacking and child health, published last week, is based on two independent studies and focuses on the snacking habits of children aged four to 11.

The report, Carrots or Chemistry? Snacking and child health, published last week, is based on two independent studies and focuses on the snacking habits of children aged four to 11.

The first study, involving 206 children at 16 primary schools, found that 99 nine per cent of the children ate snacks, some up to six per day. Ten per cent of the children spent up to 30 a month on snacks and 61 per cent of four-and five-year-olds bought their own.

The second study, which looked at 42 children's food diaries, found that half their daily calories came from snacks rather than from meals and that half the weight of the daily food intake was derived from snacks. Only one in five children followed the Government's recommended 'five-a-day'

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