A survey of more than 27,500 school children, conducted by the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) throughout the U.K., showed that nearly one in five of those aged 4 to 11 years old believe that fish fingers (sticks) come from chicken.
The survey, said to be the largest of its kind, was conducted as part of the BNF’s Healthy Eating Week at the beginning of June. During the week (3 to 7 June), the aim was to teach more than 1.2 million children from more than 3,000 schools about healthy eating, cooking and where foods come from.
Roy Ballam, education program manager, said the BNF wanted “to start the process of re-engaging children with the origins of food, nutrition and cooking, so that they grow up with a fuller understanding of how food reaches them and what a healthy diet and lifestyle consists of.”
It should come as no surprise that in this era of convenience foods where nearly all food products in most households arrive packaged in some form or other that children don’t know the origin of what they eat.
Indeed it is not just fish fingers where the children were puzzled. Nearly a third of primary school children (4 to 11 years old) in the survey thought that cheese came from plants and one in ten secondary school children (11 to 16 years old) believed that tomatoes grew under the ground.
On a more positive note, the BNF study revealed that 64 percent of primary school children recognized the “eatwell plate” which highlights the different types of food and shows the proportions that should be eaten to have a well-balanced and healthy diet. However, when presented with four pie charts and asked which best represented the eatwell plate, less than half (45 percent) of 8 to 11 year olds answered correctly.
Worryingly, the BNF survey showed that the U.K. government recommendation that children (and adults) should eat at least two portions of fish each week was largely being ignored.
“Sixteen percent of children of primary school age and one in five children of secondary school age said they never eat fish,” said a spokesman. “Averaged across all age groups from five to 16 years old, only 17 percent of children in the U.K. said they eat fish twice a week.”
And this is despite the growing scientific evidence that confirms that consumption of fish, in particular oily fish, is beneficial to human health.
The “eat five a day” message for fruit and vegetables, however, was getting across even if it wasn’t acted upon. A majority of the children in the survey said they knew they should consume five or more portions of fruit and vegetables per day even though most reported eating less than this.
The BNF research paints a depressing, but not unfamiliar, picture. More than 40 years ago, the U.K.’s White Fish Authority, one of two semi-government organisations which were merged to create the Sea Fish Industry Authority — now known as Seafish — was working with schools to encourage children to eat more fish and shellfish.
And many projects have been undertaken since and, indeed, are still continuing. Whether these later programs will have more effect still remains to be seen. It is to be hoped so because the health benefits of eating fish and shellfish have now really come out.
Also, as Ballam pointed out, “levels of childhood obesity [in the U.K.] are soaring” and seafood consumption can help to actively combat this.
