White children from deprived communities face health risks
Ravi Chandiramani
Monday, September 22, 2008
White children from deprived communities stand the biggest risk of exposure to unhealthy diet and poor health, children's minister Kevin Brennan has warned.
Speaking at a Labour fringe event hosted by the Social Market Foundation and the Food Standards Agency, Brennan said his visits to schools where pupils lived mainly on “white working class estates” showed their food preferences to be dominated by “pizza, chips and takeaways”. By contrast, pupils at schools in areas of high ethnic diversity expressed an “incredibly rich array” of favourite foods, with exotic fruits among them. “This is a cultural challenge. Food preferences are set at a very early age,” he said.
Brennan said that millions of households in deprived communities do not eat round a table, not simply out of choice but sometimes because of lack of living space.
The children’s minister also called for more secondary schools to introduce “stay on-site” policies to prevent pupils using their lunch break to consume junk food.
And he revealed the government is to launch a campaign this autumn to “nudge families towards healthier lifestyles.” It will be led by the Department of Health, with support from the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the food industry.