© 2000 British Nutrition Foundation Nutrition Bulletin, 25, 187–188

Correspondence: Dr Juliet Gray, 6 Kingswood Close, Merrow,

Guildford, Surrey GU1 2SD, UK.

E-mail: julietgray@6kingswood.fsnet.uk

EDITORIAL

Let’s junk the junk food approach

‘Junk-free shopping’ – yet another emotive headline that

confronted the hoards of already over-anxious, food-

obsessed, middle class mothers and fathers opening their

copies of The Times earlier this year. The feature was

prompted by the publication of a damning report from

the Food Commission on the ever-increasing range of

foods marketed for children, and which had highlighted

the high sugar, salt, and fat content of many of these

products. The journalist had taken a supermarket tour

in the company of the Food Commission’s director, Dr

Tim Lobstein. Together, they had moved from aisle to

aisle, condemning the child-friendly products, including

a number of dairy-based desserts and yogurts. The

feature also embraced Dr Lobstein’s approach to getting

round the problems of all this sugar-laden, fatty food,

and how he tried to get his own children to eat health-

ily; this included as the first rule, avoiding taking them

shopping!

The article had its good points; what self-respecting

nutritionist would disagree with the need to encourage

our children to eat more vegetables and fruit. But, as

the parent of a headstrong, although fortunately apple-

adoring, vegetable-friendly, 13-year-old, who eats her

fair share of salty and sugary snack products, I have

every sympathy for the parents who, having read the

article, were left wondering, not for the first time, what

they can do to get it right. Are such attacks on individ-

ual products really justified and in the long term does

such an approach help parents to encourage their chil-

dren to eat a healthier mix of foods? No, of course it

doesn’t. As responsible parents, rather than keeping our

children away from those tempting shelves, we need to

take them with us so that children are exposed to the

full range of foods available to us today and learn how

to put foods together as part of healthy diets – yes, it

may be difficult, but to not try is to fail.

The day after the feature appeared in The Times, the

national survey of young people in Great Britain,

National Diet and Nutrition Survey: young people aged4–18 years (Gregory et al. 2000) was published. The

survey results were summarised in the previous issue of

the Nutrition Bulletin, and in this current issue, Dr Judy

Buttriss discusses the findings from a public health per-

spective. It is certainly evident from the survey that

Britain’s young people are not eating enough of many

important basic foods – vegetables and fruit, milk and

dairy products, lean meat, and whole-grain cereal prod-

ucts – and that the most commonly consumed foods

include many salty and sugary snack products. The

problem is that snacking is an important part of a young

person’s lifestyle and for most young people, who have

relatively high energy needs for growth and activity,

regular snacks are nutritionally important. However,

there is a tendency to snack on foods of relatively low

nutrient density.

One of the key findings of this survey is that about

one-quarter of 11–14-year-old girls and one-fifth of

15–18-year-old girls had inadequate calcium intakes,

which, at least in part, reflects their low milk consump-

tion. Vitamin D status was also low among a significant

proportion (10%) of the older girls. When these two

findings are viewed in the context of the low levels of

physical activity also found in the survey, it is evident

that the eating and lifestyle habits of a significant pro-

portion of young people in Britain, especially young

girls, may be endangering their bone health and conse-

quently, many young people may be storing up future

problems, both for themselves and for the National

Health Service. In this context, the consumption of

snack foods of higher nutrient density, which would

include items such as yogurts and dairy-based desserts

that provide the much-needed calcium in an appealing

form, are useful foods for young people and should be

promoted as such. Concern has been expressed about

the relatively high levels of nonmilk extrinsic sugars that

some of these products contain, but while there may be

187

scope for reducing these levels, research suggests that

sugars in this form are not damaging to dental health,

the key issue in relation to snacking.

By focusing on whether individual snack products

might be ‘good’ or ‘bad’, or worse still, ‘junk’, we are

in danger of throwing out the baby with the bathwater

and actually losing sight of the critically important

broader message which Dr Buttriss emphasises in her

article, i.e., the importance of promoting a healthier diet

among young people. There is a need to work closely

with the food industry to design more products that are

appealing and convenient for children as part of their

lifestyles, but that are more in line with current nutri-

tional guidelines, especially in terms of sugar, salt and

saturated fatty acid content. We must also aim to con-

188 Juliet Gray

© 2000 British Nutrition Foundation Nutrition Bulletin, 25, 187–188

tinue educating both children and parents so that they

can be discerning and have the confidence to make the

appropriate choices when choosing a range of snack

products that can, and should, be part of a balanced and

healthy diet. Above all, let’s make sure that as part of

this process of education we continue, or perhaps start,

to take our children shopping!

Dr Juliet Gray

Chair, Editorial Advisory Board

Reference

Gregory J et al. (2000) National Diet and Nutrition Survey: youngpeople aged 4–18 years. Vol. 1: Findings. The Stationery Office,

London.