Opinion

Opinion: In my View - Funds for better food

Scarcely a day passes without a news story about the dangers associated with a poor diet. As childhood obesity in this country continues to rise, the question of what we feed our children has never been more hotly debated.

It is in the early years that children develop tastes and attitudes to food that directly affect their health and fitness. The Pre-school Learning Alliance has long called for funding initiatives through our Feeding Young Imaginations campaign to focus on the birth-to-five age group.

The lack of consistent information and advice for under-fives and, it would seem, the reliance on nutritional advice aimed at adults, causes concern for those of us caring for young children. The recent East Sussex Trading Standards study into nursery food, which revealed that provision in many nurseries was too low in calories and saturated fat, and too high in fruit and vegetables, is a stark reminder of the pressing need for nutritional guidance and resources to address the specific dietary needs of this age group.

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