Some 20% of calorie intake among children aged between two and four years comes from treat foods, such as chocolate, biscuits and soft drinks, new research from the START campaign has revealed.

According to the findings, this rises to 25% among children in primary school.

START is a public health campaign from Safefood, the Departments of Health in the Republic and Northern Ireland, Healthy Ireland, the HSE and the Public Health Agency. It aims to support families to take small steps to eat healthier foods and become more active.

The research, which was conducted in May 2022, analysed existing national food consumption data to understand the role of snacking and treat foods in children’s lives and to identify patterns of consumption in households and how these impact on dietary quality overall.

According to Safefood’s director of nutrition, Dr Aileen McGloin, while it is already known that snacks play an important role in children’s diets, this research is showing is that “children are getting too many of their snacks from unhealthy foods like biscuits, crisps, chocolate and sweets”.

“We want to support parents to rethink their children’s snacks, both in terms of what they buy and what they give. Offering healthier snacks, particularly during those after-school times during the week, would be a good place to start. From listening to parents, we know this is a really challenging behaviour to address because treats are readily available and so cheap,” she noted. 

Sarah O’Brien, the national lead for the HSE’s Healthy Eating and Active Living Programme, pointed out that children who snack every day on unhealthy foods “aren’t getting all the nutrients they need to help them grow and develop” and may also be at an increased risk of tooth decay.

“Replacing these snacks with nutritious foods such as vegetables, fruit, cheese and so on may be challenging but it can be done. The START campaign encourages parents to consider taking steps to do just this.  Steps include making a plan to go easy on treats during the week, not buying as many treats when shopping or getting support and advice on how to talk to others in your family circle about not offering treats every day,” she explained.

Commenting on the START campaign, child and adolescent psychotherapist, Dr Colman Noctor, said that the findings “underline how we need to become more proactive about supporting the health of future generations by encouraging good dietary and physical activity habits”.

“The key is to make gradual and progressive small changes. If your children have two treats a day, then aim to reduce that to one treat a day on weekdays and two at the weekend. Once this has been achieved it will provide parents with the confidence to continue introducing healthier diet options. Quick wins are crucial to motivational success and maintaining progress,” he said.

Data for this research was derived from three nationally representative food consumption surveys of children undertaken on the island of Ireland, including the National Children’s Food Survey II (2017 – 2018), which was carried out by the Irish Universities Nutrition Alliance (IUNA).

For more information on the START campaign, click here.