A trading Standards study on the diet of nursery children that claims toddlers eat too much fruit and vegetables has been criticised, amid calls for a specific diet guideline for under four-year-olds.
The research, carried out across East Sussex, found that the majority of nurseries were serving meals that were “too low in calories, fats and salt, and too high in vegetables and fruit”.
With many children still not eating their recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, the study, which was reported in most of the nationals this week, could end up damaging the 5 A DAY campaign.
Anne Sidnell, nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation, told FPJ: “This is a short snapshot of a very limited number of nurseries, and probably not representative of the whole country.” She added that it might have a negative impact on the 5 A DAY campaign “if parents believe they are giving their young children too many fruit and vegetables”.
TV chef Rachel Green agreed the study was limited. “Yet again, more information is coming into the public domain that is not fully conclusive,” she said. “The study does not even take into account the meals that children have outside school; they may be going home to eat no fruit or vegetables at all. Any diet should be about balance. It is not good for children to have a lot of anything, but to say they eat too much fruit and vegetables is fairly ludicrous.”
Although the department of health is working on advice on portion sizes for young children, this will not apply to children younger than three years of age. “I think official guidelines specifically for toddlers’ diets would be very helpful,” said Sidnell.
“Judging by the last national survey of children aged one-and-a-half to four-and-a-half, toddlers are not eating large quantities of fruit and vegetables. The average daily intake of fruit and vegetables was only 88g per day and 124g if you included fruit, vegetables and fruit juice.”
Sidnell recommended that parents of children under four years should aim for five small portions per day. “Parents should set a good example by eating fruit and vegetables themselves,” she said.
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