This report from the UK Soil Association’s Food for Life initiative explores the state of children’s food in England. It finds that 4 in 10 children leaving primary school will be overweight or obese by 2024, nine out of ten preschool children eat too much sugar and UK families eat the most ultra-processed diet in Europe.
Some indicators were found to be improving, including:
- Government monitoring of food insecurity
- London introducing limits on junk food advertisements on public transport and on new fast food takeaways opening near schools
- Children have more opportunities to speak out on food and the environment, such as through the Children’s Future Food Inquiry, Bite Back 2030, and the Youth Climate Strike movement
Other indicators were found to be worsening, including:
- Non-compliance with school food standards is rising
- A million children in poverty are missing out on free school meals
- Children are consuming more sweeteners
Read the full report, State of the nation: Children’s food in England, 2019, here. See also the Foodsource building block What is food security?
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