Cheese comes from plants and fish fingers are made of chicken
Research conducted by the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) among over 27,500 children across the UK, shows that nearly a third (29 per cent) of primary school children think that cheese comes from plants, one in ten secondary school children believe that tomatoes grow under the ground, and nearly one in five (18 per cent) primary school children say that fish fingers come from chicken.
The survey, the largest of its kind, was conducted as part of the BNF’s Healthy Eating Week, launched today by HRH The Princess Royal. More than 3,000 schools are participating in the Week during which over 1.2 million children will be learning valuable lessons about healthy eating, cooking and where foods come from.
Roy Ballam, Education Programme Manager at the British Nutrition Foundation, said: “Schools throughout the UK require a national framework and guidance for food and nutrition education to support the learning needs of children and young people, especially at a time when levels of childhood obesity are soaring. Through Healthy Eating Week, we hope to start the process of re-engaging children with the origins of food, nutrition and cooking, so that they grow up with a fuller understanding of how food reaches them and what a healthy diet and lifestyle consists of. The fact that so many schools in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have registered to participate in the Week demonstrates their understanding of how important healthy eating is and their commitment to giving children a solid grounding from which to create healthy lives for themselves.”
Over three quarters (77 per cent) of primary school children and nearly nine out of every ten (88 per cent) secondary school pupils know that people should consume five or more portions of fruit and vegetables each day. However, 67 per cent of primary school children and 81 per cent of secondary school pupils reported eating four or less portions of fruit and vegetables daily, while two in every five children at secondary school don’t think that frozen fruit and vegetables count towards their five a day.
Ballam concluded: “Through this survey one in five (21 per cent) primary school children and 18 per cent of secondary school pupils told us that they have never visited a farm. This may go part way to explaining why over a third (34 per cent) of 5-8 year olds and 17 per cent of 8-11 year olds believe that pasta comes from animals.”
