A Fit Choice?

A new British Heart Foundation report exposes the unhealthy food options available where kids exercise.
For example, did you know?

An average seven year old needs to swim for 88 minutes to use up 203 calories.

But that’s the average calorie content of the snacks most often found in vending machines in leisure centres, according to the report.

BHF: “It’s great that children and young people are having fun and getting active at places like leisure venues, bowling alleys and ice rinks. But we think that all this good work is being undermined by the huge range of unhealthy foods they’re being offered through vending machines and junk food meal deals.”

The new report – published in support of their ongoing Food4Thought campaign – reveals a snapshot of just how this is happening. It found that…

• Vending machines dominate venues, stocking snacks that can’t be advertised on children’s TV or sold in school vending machines.
• Junk food meal deals rule children’s menus.
• There’s little nutritional information to help kids and parents understand what the healthiest option is.

To find out more, please download and read the full report and read the associated press release.

What can you do about it?

Together we can make sure that there are healthy options available for children while they’re getting active.

Take action with BHF to ask local councils to ensure that the venues they run – or which someone else runs on their behalf – have healthy food options available for children.

Send an email to your local councillor today!