| Many parents struggle to know which foods are | | | | choices themselves. There are strong links between |
| healthy for their children. When they are able to opt | | | | obesity and ill health. The Australian Institute of |
| for healthy choices, about two-thirds struggle to get | | | | Health and Welfare lists the following increased risks |
| their children to eat healthily, a poll of nearly 800 | | | | of cancers in obese people:Men Women |
| parents found. Developing Patient Partnerships (DPP), | | | | Cancer % Increase Risk Cancer %increase Risk |
| which commissioned the survey, said that parents | | | | Prostate 23 Uterus 178 |
| need more support to tackle the growing problem of | | | | Leukaemia 43 Kidney 110 |
| childhood obesity. Childhood obesity has tripled in the | | | | Bowel 53 Bowel 35 |
| past 20 years, official figures show.Recent studies | | | | Liver 128 Liver 48 |
| suggest that parents do not know what good | | | | Gallbladder 76 Breast 71Statistics such as these are |
| nutrition is. Perhaps advertising of fast foods, and | | | | a stark reminder of the importance of maintaining a |
| busy life styles has contributed to this. Nutritional | | | | healthy weight level. Children must be given every |
| meals can be prepared quickly and simply at home.Of | | | | opportunity to have a healthy body. In order to get |
| the parents of children aged 15 years and younger | | | | their family on track to a healthy lifestyle parents |
| questioned by the DPP, 45% said they found it | | | | need to learn how to feed themselves and their |
| difficult to work out which foods were healthy for | | | | family good nutrition.A simple way to improve |
| their children. When parents did select healthy foods, | | | | nutrition is to add raw fruit and vegetables to family |
| 65% said they struggled to motivate their children to | | | | diets. These are foods that have no preservatives or |
| eat it. Three-quarters of parents blamed advertising | | | | added color. They provide plenty of vitamins, mineral, |
| and marketing of unhealthy snacks and drinks for | | | | antioxidants, fiber, water and trace elements. (All |
| making this job so difficult. Another 87% believed | | | | necessary for good nutrition.) They look appetizing |
| that schools should play a big role in teaching children | | | | and have high water content. They have a firm |
| how to be healthy.When more than a thousand | | | | texture which means we need to chew them well. |
| children aged seven to 16 were questioned about | | | | This aids the digestive system. The body quickly and |
| their lifestyles, 70% said they would be more likely to | | | | easily processes them. This means less work for the |
| eat healthily and get active if their parents were | | | | digestive system. |
| doing it. Only 16% said they ate the recommended | | | | They are natural, that is, not processed and |
| five portions of fruit and vegetables per day. This | | | | pre-packaged with extra chemicals. |
| suggests that parents are not making healthy food | | | | |