Are our kids eating too much junk food?

A report conducted by Kellogg's, has found that British kids are going to school having only eaten junk for breakfast. A huge GBP£646 million is being spent each year by children buying biscuits, cake and meat snacks on the way to school and almost one quarter of all seven to 14 year olds have a junk food breakfast of this kind on a regular basis. As well as revealing these statistics, it was shown that one in every class of 14 year olds say they go to school having had only a cigarette.

Of those surveyed, 14 percent of children say they go into an off-license to buy their breakfast. This rises to 24 percent in 13 to 14 year olds. It was also found that half a million kids eat biscuits for their morning meal, 160,000 have a bag of crisps and more than 100,000 just have a fizzy drink. The survey also found that a third of children say their parents are aware of what they spend their money on, and are fine with it.

Welsh capital Cardiff is the junk food brekkie capital of Britain, suggesting with 34 percent of kids (eight percent over the national average) saying they scoff unhealthy foods before school, while Southampton's youngsters get a gold star as the least likely to stuff themselves with bad food first thing, ranking well below average with 12 percent.

Rachel Fellows from Kellogg's said: "This report shows parents are having a tough time but we know parents want to do the right thing but something is stopping that happening. We all need to help parents find solutions - like open more breakfast clubs in schools - so each child can start the day with a decent meal in them."

Jeremy Todd, chief executive of parent's charity Parentline Plus, added: "Parentline Plus advises parents, where possible, to sit down with your children and ensure that your family eats a healthy breakfast. The time before school can be stressful for parents as they struggle to get themselves ready for work and their children ready for school."

At the same time this study has been revealed, another one has been announced, saying that one in two children will return to school with a packet of crisps in their packed lunch. The School Lunchbox Nutrition Study by grocery shopping comparison website mySupermarket.co.uk showed 93 percent of those lunchboxes contained either a fun size chocolate bar, biscuits or a slice of cake on a daily basis. Crisps featured in 50 percent of children's packed lunches, with just 12 percent of parents including low fat crisps, while other unhealthy snacks like processed cheese (29 percent) found their way into lunchboxes, according to the survey.

When it came to sandwiches, 60 percent of parents admitted choosing white bread over the more nutritional brown option. The most popular fillings were cheese (55 percent) closely followed by processed ham (44 percent). Although the poll revealed more than a third of schoolchildren took a piece of fruit in their lunchbox, just one in five lunchboxes contained salad.

According to mySupermarket.com, the typical lunchbox containing a ham sandwich, a packet of ready salted crisps, a fun size chocolate bar, a yogurt and a piece of fruit would contain approximately 40g of sugar, 4.45g salt and a total of 760 calories.

Despite the results for lunchboxes, 60 percent of parents described their children's typical evening meal as home-made with meat and vegetables, compared with none saying it was a burger or take-away and two percent saying pizza.

Almost 65 percent said that they believed their children had a well balanced diet, while 26 percent admitted that their child's diet was a ''little unhealthy'' and two percent said it was very unhealthy.

Dr Mabel Blades, independent dietician and nutritionist, said: ''What children and teenagers eat has an impact on their health, behaviour and ability to learn. It is a shame if young people having a packed lunch miss out on balanced nutrition.''

It's worrying statistics that these two reports show. That's at least two meals out of three where children aren't getting the balanced meals that they need.

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