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Food labels 'make it difficult' for parents to choose healthy meals

Tuesday 5th July 2011

Food labels are not clear enough for parents to make informed decisions about their child's diet, according to the National Obesity Forum (NOF).

This could be hampering efforts by those in dietician and occupational therapy jobs, whose advice on healthy eating may not be implemented in practice because labels are difficult to interpret.

NOF board member and chair of the Child Growth Foundation, Tam Fry, explained that one of the most important considerations for parents should be ensuring that their child has a low glycemic diet.

She noted: "High glycemic consists of potatoes, chips and things like that, which are fried in the wrong way, in the wrong kinds of fats, they are the ones that do the real damage."

However, she claims that problems reading labels on food sold by British retailers make it "extremely difficult for families to bring their children up eating a proper diet".

Earlier this month, national clinical director for Liver Disease professor Martin Lombard said that 500,000 children in the UK are at risk of developing fatty liver disease because they are overweight.

This increases the risk of suffering a heart attack or a stroke, but can also lead to cirrhosis of the liver and diabetes.

Written by James Puckle