As the government's National Child Measurement Programme uncovers a 10 year old girl weighing 24st 5lbs and a boy of 11 weighing 23st 1lb, with both children under 5ft tall, Romilla Arber, award-winning author of the cookbook "What's for Dinner? Second Helpings", blames poor food education and a diet that largely comprises of pre-packed and processed foods on the growing problem of child obesity.
"We cannot keep ignoring these terrifying statistics relating to children's weight, it's time to take action. The problem spurs from a generation of parents raised on a largely processed diet of ready meals and fast food, who have no connection with the food they eat, and as a result can't cook a simple meal and don't understand nutrition. They've simply never been taught food education and how to prepare a home-cooked meal using fresh ingredients from scratch; the legacy is growing levels of obesity in today's children."
She continues, "Obesity puts a strain on the NHS, as it causes diabetes, heart disease and joint problems, I wrote my family cook books, 'What's for Dinner?' and 'What's for Dinner? Second Helpings', which promote the benefits of a home-cooked diet and help tackle this growing problem. All recipes in my books are easy to prepare and use fresh, basic ingredients that are easy to obtain and affordable. All sale proceeds from both my books, go directly to The Food Education Trust which are used to educate adults and children on how to prepare simple, nutritious food on a budget."
Through her charity, The Food Education Trust, Romilla works with schools to help them improve the quality of the food in the canteen. At one particular school, Romilla has eliminated the children's everyday mid-morning snacks of pizza, hamburger or sausage roll and replaced them with healthy energy inducing tray bakes of fruit flapjacks and granola bars, which are all cooked onsite.
Using recipes from her books, she has taught the schools catering manager to prepare a delicious and nutritious choice of meals, each can be prepared within a set time frame on a cost per portion basis. The school is taking the right steps to improve the nutrition and lower the calorific value of the food it serves its pupils.
The Food Education Trust is entirely funded by sales of Romilla's books "What's for Dinner?" and the award-winning "What's for Dinner? Second Helpings" both are available to purchase in all good bookshops and online at www.amazon.co.uk
For further information please contact Li Boatwright at Storrington Communications li@storringtoncommunications.com
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