Parents living in the fattest region in England have been told to wean their babies on to solid foods with biscuits, crisps and chocolate – despite government officials claiming they’re doing everything they can to fight the childhood obesity epidemic.
Advice shared by NHS Gateshead Health claimed that these foods ‘dissolve in the mouth’ making them a ‘great middle step for children who are struggling to accept lumps in food’.
The online advice – which was removed after the Daily Mail approached the NHS trust for comment – also lists sugar-laden Cadbury‘s chocolate buttons, prawn crackers and Pom Bear Crisps as ‘great’ foods to try.
Also on the list are sponge finger biscuits, ice cream wafers and Wotsits.
On further investigation, it was revealed that Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children also lists Wotsits, Skips, Quavers, Pom Bears and pink wafer biscuits as good ‘bite and dissolve foods’ to help children learn to chew, before listing organic alternatives.
Leading epidemiologist and public health advisor Dr Dolly van Tulleken from the University of Cambridge is demanding to know how the NHS can getaway with such damaging claims.
She told the Daily Mail: ‘You don’t have to be an expert or nutritionist to know these are sugary, highly processed foods that have no nutritional value.’
Children aged one and under should have no more than 1g of salt a day, according to the NHS, because their kidneys are not fully developed and cannot process it.
NHS Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust’s website, listing snacks packed full of sugar and salt as ‘great middle step’ foods for children
However, a single serving of Wotsits contains nearly 50 per cent of their daily allowance.
Latest figures show nearly a quarter of 10 and 11-year olds in Gateshead are obese – well above the worrying national average of 19 per cent.
Earlier this month, Health Minister Sharon Hodgson – who is also the Labour MP for Gateshead – spoke out about the importance of nutritious meals for children as the Government plans to overhaul the school food stands for the first time in a decade.
She said: ‘Children are consuming twice the recommended amount of free sugar and offering more nutritious meals at school is a great way of ensuring they eat healthier food.
‘We’re determined to reduce the child obesity epidemic and the new school food standards represent another piece in a jigsaw of measures designed to help raise the healthiest generation of children ever.’
The move will see over 500 new free breakfast clubs open their doors this month, offering places up to 142,000 children.
And under the plans, schools will no longer be able to offer unhealthy grab and go options like pizza every day, while deep fried food will be banned completely.
Fruit will also be served instead of sugar-laden snacks the majority of the school week.
But experts say this does not go far enough if we are starting children on ’empty’ calories from their very first bites.
Registered dietician Dr Carrie Ruxton labeled the advice ‘very poor’, highlighting the danger it poses for children’s developing bodies.
‘I think this advice is very poor. Pom Bears, Wotsits, and Skips have added salt which is not needed by babies and can be dangerous for their developing kidneys,’ she said.
‘Salty snacks and chocolate buttons are also lacking in vital nutrients that babies need for brain development.’
Registered Nutritionist Rob Hobson told the Daily Mail that while he understands why some of these snacks have been suggested for weaning, there are healthier options.
‘The same effect can be achieved with whole-food options like soft roasted vegetables, ripe fruit, well-cooked pasta or toast fingers, which also contribute nutritionally,’ he said.
‘It’s important to bring this back to the core NHS guidance, which is very clear that from around six months, weaning should focus on introducing a wide variety of simple, minimally processed foods like vegetables, fruit, grains and protein foods to help shape taste preferences and support nutritional needs.
‘There’s also increasing concern around reliance on ultra-processed snack foods in children’s diets, so these shouldn’t be seen as part of everyday weaning and the focus should always be on building meals around whole foods.’
Dr Ruxton added: ‘Infanthood is an important window of opportunity to develop liking for different tastes and textures which is why dieticians now recommend ‘veg first; so babies get used to the slightly bitter tastes of broccoli and peas instead of being weaned onto sweet, bland foods like baby rice, banana and fruit purees.’
Experts have long warned that parents need to realise the danger that weight issues pose to their children’s short and long term health.
One in three children are now leaving primary school overweight or obese, while tooth decay from diets high in sugar is the leading cause of hospital admissions for youngsters aged 5 to 9 years old.
And according to leading British researchers, increased consumption of ultra-processed foods – which contain artificial ingredients not found in a normal home kitchen – are also to blame.
As a result, more young people are developing dangerous health conditions than ever, including type 2 diabetes and liver disease before they reach their twenties.
Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust, The Department of Health and Social Care and the office of Ms Hodgson have been approached for comment.
‘The NHS advice is ludicrous… UPFs are having catastrophic effects on us and our children’s health’
By DR DOLLY VAN TULLEKEN, Public Health Policy Consultant
When a friend sent me the link to the NHS Gateshead website, I had to check the URL a few times to make sure it wasn’t a joke.
The Gateshead Health site was actually recommending Wotsits, Skips, Pom Bear crisps, Cadbury’s chocolate buttons, ice cream wafers and Jaffa Cakes to infants and children.
You don’t have to be an expert or nutritionist to know these are sugary, highly processed foods that have no nutritional value.
And this wasn’t a one-off example of poor judgement – the website for Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, for instance, has a similar list, advising carers ‘you can use [these] bite and dissolve foods to help your child’s feeding’.
This is what happens when ultra-processed food (UPF) becomes the norm and dominates the food system. Britain has the highest UPF intake anywhere in Europe.
Aside from the US, we eat more UPFs than any nation on Earth.
Dr Dolly Van Tulleken has slammed the advice
These industrially engineered products are not just obvious junk and treats but staple foods – breakfast cereals, packaged bread, yoghurts, ready meals, pasta sauces and chicken nuggets.
Many of the unhealthiest products are specifically made for infants and young children, including puree pouches and vegetable crisps.
As busy parents we rely on the packets to make decisions. We’ll buy products with health claims like ‘no artificial flavours’, ‘no additives’ or ‘no added sugar’ because we believe we’re doing the best for our child and we assume products, especially those marketed as being for infants and young children, are properly regulated.
But many of these products are UPFs and not labelled as such.
Toddlers in the UK get almost 50 per cent of their calories from UPFs, which rises to almost 60 per cent by age seven.
This is having catastrophic effects on us and our children’s health.
Because of high UPF diets, our kids are 9cm shorter than their European peers and we have one of the highest child obesity rates in Europe.
One in three children leaves primary school obese or overweight. It’s not just excess weight – in the long-term, high UPF consumption is associated with several cancers, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, inflammatory bowel disease, kidney disease, Crohn’s disease, depression, dementia, and early death.
The combination of industrial ingredients, additives, softness and flavours in many ultra-processed foods make it hard to know when you’re full, and so we overeat.
Even the texture – often ‘bite and dissolve’, which, as NHS Gateshead pointed out, means they do not require chewing – can also be problematic: UPFs are making up so much of what children eat that specialists are noticing a rise in jaw development problems and delayed speech.
UPFs are almost impossible to avoid. They flood our high streets and shops. They are served to patients in hospitals and they make up two-thirds of school meals.
At a time when it feels more confusing than ever before to know what to eat, we have a national health service that is actively recommending the worst UPFs for our children’s health.
Parents want their kids to grow up healthy. We rely on the NHS for trustworthy advice. The creep of ultra-processed food has gone too far.
