Obesity in children is a growing problem. The latest figures from the Food Standard Agency (FSA) reveal that it affects 8.5 per cent of six-year-olds and 15 per cent of 15-year-olds, resulting in increases in such conditions as coronary heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
What's more, although the Government is to ask the new media regulator Ofcom to draw up a tough code on junk-food and drinks advertising directed at children, it's difficult to promote healthy eating when, according to the FSA, the food industry spends 75 per cent of its £450m ad budget targeting kids.
If facing up to the marketing power of the global food giants wasn't enough, children are also at the mercy of parents' cooking skills and budget, as well as the variable quality of school meals.
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