Britain puts the fear of Burger in kids

LONDON: A heart charity launched a poster campaign on Monday to shock children away from eating cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets and hot dogs.

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) has created posters showing the common ingredients in many burgers, hot dogs and chicken nuggets in the hope of shocking youngsters into improving their diet.

The images of gristle, bone and connective tissue are partly covered by a “censored” stamp - but the full ingredients can be seen on the charity's website. The Food4Thought campaign wants to get children, particularly those aged 11-12, thinking about what is in their food so they can make healthier choices.

The BHF is also enlisting the help of ITV sports presenter and mother Gabby Logan to deliver their “Policy Pizza” to 10 Downing Street with a list of actions the charity wants the government to take to boost child health.

It came as a BHF survey found that 36 per cent of youngsters aged eight-14 could not correctly identify the main ingredient of chips as potato.

Nearly one in 10 (nine per cent) of the children questioned thought chips were made of oil, with other suggesting eggs, flour and apples.

More than a third of children (37 per cent) also failed to identify that cheese was mostly made of milk.

It is estimated that an extra 440,000 UK children will become overweight or obese in the next two years, with a quarter predicted to be obese by 2020.

Peter Hollins, the BHF's director general, said: “It sends a shiver down my spine to discover that so many children don't even know what chips are made of.

“Kids have lost touch with even the most basic foods and no longer understand what they are eating. Banning foods or telling children not to eat them is not enough - we must engage children in understanding why certain foods are less healthy than others, and encourage them to become interested in what's on their plate.

“This campaign is about talking to children in their language and sparking their curiosity so that they think about what they eat and start demanding healthier options.”

The Policy Pizza being delivered to Tony Blair today includes calls for the marketing of unhealthy foods and drinks to children to be stopped and for the government to make sure nutritious food is affordable and accessible. The BHF also wants children to be given opportunities to learn practical cooking skills.

The BHF is sending out 600,000 action packs, designed as giant crisp packets, to youngsters including celebrity posters, stickers and a magazine.

Celebrities including cricket star Andrew Flintoff, girl bands The Sugababes and Girls Aloud and Cold Feet actress Fay Ripley are also backing the campaign.

With inputs from agencies