Cheese from plants and pasta from animals? Survey shows UK children know little about food

02-Jun-2013 - Last updated on 03-Jun-2013 at 12:33 GMT

Related tags Nutrition

Almost a third of UK children think that cheese comes from a plant, while more than 80% of children do not consume enough fruit and vegetables, according to a new survey of more than 27,000 children.

The survey, performed by the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF), finds that 29% of UK primary school pupils (aged four to 11 years) think cheese is made from plants, a quarter think fish fingers come from chicken or pigs, while 34% think that pasta comes from animals.

Despite a wealth of scientific evidence substantiating the benefits of fish consumption, in particular oily fish, only 17% of children surveyed across all ages were found to eat the two or more portions of fish per week recommended by UK national guidelines. More than two-thirds of school children (67%), and the majority of secondary school pupils (81%) reported eating four or less portions of fruit and vegetables daily.

Publication of the findings coincide with the launch of BNF's Healthy Eating Week in the UK, which will see more than 3,000 help to educate over 1.2 million children in the UK on valuable lessons about healthy eating, cooking and where foods come from.

"We hope 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," said Roy Ballam, education programme manager at the BNF.

Survey highlights

“Through this survey one in five (21%) primary school children and 18 per cent of secondary school pupils told us that they have never visited a farm," Ballam added.

"This may go part way to explaining why over a third (34%) of 5-8 year olds and 17% of 8-11 year olds believe that pasta comes from animals,” he said.

The survey, which is the largest of its kind, analysed answers from more than 27,500 children across the UK. The survey also found:

one in ten (10%) secondary school children believe that tomatoes grow under the ground,
18% of primary school children say that fish fingers come from chicken
two in every five (40%) children at secondary school don’t think frozen fruit and vegetables count towards 'five-a-day'.
around a quarter (25%) of 14-16 year olds regularly skip breakfast
16% of children of primary school age and one in five (20%) children of secondary school age said they never eat fish

Not all bad news?

Despite some of the worrying findings, the survey also revealed that UK children are keen to learn more about food and enjoy cooking, with 17% of primary school children and 19% of secondary school children cook at home at least once a week.

In addition, 84% of primary, and 73% secondary school children said they would like to cook more - with an average of 85% of children across all age groups revealing that they enjoy cooking.

Indeed, education on healthy eating and diet may be paying off too, according to the BNF - adding that an 'encouraging' 64% of primary school children recognised the 'eatwell plate', while more than three quarters (77%) of primary school children and 88% secondary school pupils know that people should consume five or more portions of fruit and vegetables each day.