Opinion: Editor's view

Food is something of a national obsession at the moment, with the battle against junk food and obesity raging on with seemingly very little impact. Increasingly, the evidence points to the early years being the really important time for children to eat well and acquire good dietary habits for the future.

This week, we report on a new study that has found that a poor diet in the early years is more likely to affect children's progress at school adversely than the food they eat when they are older (see News, page 3).

Yet most effort and funding continue to concentrate on primary and secondary children. There are still no legal nutrition standards for food in early years settings (despite a framework for curriculum and regulation - the Early Years Foundation Stage - whose statutory nature has been controversially enforced). And there are no such standards in prospect.

So the council's proposal in Liverpool for free school dinners to be given to all primary pupils (News, page 8) looks attractive, but may in fact not be the best use of money at £10m a year. This may be too late to help most effectively - whether that is with SATs results or obesity levels.

It is really sad that local authorities are now having to discuss whether to take action against parents of obese children (News, page 3). Comprehensive nutritional standards for early years settings, plus more funding for antenatal education for parents, would have a real effect on this problem.

We might love watching TV chefs and the Olympic Games, but it's not translating into making us a healthy nation!