Fears over the terrible diets of schoolchildren

Some schools may prohibit the consumption of sugary beverages, but children are resourceful and often ‘smuggle’ in soft drinks inside coloured plastic bottles, according to fresh research.

And in some cases when they run out of water, kids say they quench their sugar craving by buying soft drinks from the confectionary across the road from the school. ­

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The number of times bigger the pizza portion size of Maltese school children is compared to the UK.

These honest anecdotes emerge from a PhD qualitative study – Diets Assessment and Reducing Sugar Consumption for Obesity Prevention in Maltese Schoolchildren – being carried out by registered public health nutritionist Claire Copperstone at the University of Aberdeen.

The study examined the opinions of parents, schoolchildren aged nine to 11, and educators during 12 discussion groups held in five different schools.

The results come 10 days after researcher Andrew Decelis released his preliminary study showing that just five per cent of 11-year-old schoolchildren were physically active for at least an hour a day.

Ms Copperstone, who stressed her research was not a national study, also used a web-based tool to monitor everything 50 children in this age group ate in a 24-hour span – what emerged was an eye-opener on youngsters’ portion sizes. Compared with their counterparts in the UK, Maltese schoolchildren’s pizza portions were nearly three times bigger (245g against the UK’s 120g), and they eat 160g of pasta compared with the 130g consumed by British kids.

On average, Maltese schoolchildren also eat four slices of bread a day, drink zero glasses of milk and just one glass of water a day, have one fruit and zero vegetables a day. Fish rarely features in these children’s diets.

A median of one sugary snack a day is consumed and some indulge in up to six fizzy drinks in 24 hours.

Ms Copperstone, who works with the University’s Department of Food Studies and Environmental Health, said this research was intended to guide nutritionists, dieticians and decision-makers.

“These results indicate that we should be targeting carbohydrates and sugary snacks and focusing on portion control... Some countries introduced a fat tax, but why don’t we consider subsidising healthier options instead,” Ms Copperstone said, pointing out that salads, vegetables and lean meat were more expensive than staple carbs and junk food.

What startled Ms Copperstone was how alcohol was already seeping into these young children’s psyche. Some of the boys interviewed, aged 10, said: “My father drinks beer so why shouldn’t I?”

While the majority of parents had home rules and spoke about the effort they made to be role models, they also mentioned the sense of helplessness in the light of external influencing factors.

Confectioneries, sweet shops and pastizzeriji located just metres outside schools also kept cropping up during the interview. Parents were unhappy with the situation and felt these outlets were a huge temptation for children, making junk food readily available.

The study also found that parents were keen on having the school take over when it came to instilling discipline, but Ms Copperstone stressed that while schools were doing a good job, families had to become more engaged in controlling their child’s eating habits.

Some parents also felt that since they were eating unhealthily themselves, it would be a bit difficult to reduce their child’s consumption “because I’m the first one to sit there and take what’s available”.