Governments need to realise that they are not our parents. It is essential that they understand that the choice to ban something from a child should almost exclusively be the responsibility of the parent:
Labour will today propose new legal limits on levels of fat, sugar and salt in children’s food.
Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham will say urgent action must be considered to tackle spiralling levels of obesity.
One option to be considered in the party’s public policy health review is to outlaw products with more than a maximum level of fat, sugar and salt which are targeted at children to try to reverse the trend.
A consultation paper identifies a number of breakfast cereals containing more than 30 per cent sugar according to research by Which?, including Kellogg’s Frosties, with 37.0g of sugar per 100g and Tesco Choco Snaps with 36.1g per 100g.
The latest research by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), shows that in the UK, 26.6 per cent of girls and 22.7 per cent of boys are now considered ‘obese’.
Meanwhile, the National Child Measurement Programme last month reported that one-third of children in England are either overweight or obese by the time they leave primary school. Overweight children are at a greater risk of developing diabetes and cancer.
Mr Burnham said: ‘The findings of the OECD should shock us out of our complacency. It is clear that the current voluntary approach is not working. We need to open our minds to new approaches in tackling child obesity.
Click on the link to read my post School Weigh-ins Are an Insult Rather Than a Solution
Click on the link to read my post Exercising Wont Help Overweight Children: Study
Click on the link to read Charity Pays for Teen’s Plastic Surgery to Help Stop Bullying
Click on the link to read my post, ‘Sparing Young Children the Affliction of Body Image‘.
Tags: Andy Burnham, ban of sugary children's foods, breakfast cereals containing more than 30 per cent sugar, diabetes and cancer, food, legal limits on levels of fat, National Child Measurement Programme, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), outlaw products with more than a maximum level of fat, outlaw products with more than a maximum level of salt, outlaw products with more than a maximum level of sugar, sugar, sugar and salt in children's food, sugary cereals ban
Topical Teaching 
January 7, 2013 at 2:24 am |
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I know what you mean about control, truly I do. We need a better government. But this is a positive move on the governments part. Big food corporations need to be re-evaluated.
It’s when the government tries to squelch food that is actually good for us that angers me, not the processed foods like the garbage that litters our food chain.