With one in five British school children classified as being overweight by the time they reach primary school, Ella’s Kitchen is urging the Government to place a greater focus on early years nutrition.
Giant building blocks, made entirely of vegetables, were hand-delivered to the Department of Health today (13 October 2016) by a group of little ones to raise awareness of the importance of vegetables during weaning and the long-term impact it can have on little ones’ health.
The veggie blocks, created by leading baby and toddler food brand, Ella’s Kitchen, symbolise that creating a healthy relationship with food during the early years can help lay the building blocks for good eating habits throughout childhood and beyond.
As part of the campaign, the group of little ones also delivered a white paper (Ella’s Kitchen Greener Paper) to the Department of Health, which highlights the importance of vegetables throughout weaning.
The white paper calls on Public Health England to enhance existing weaning guidelines to reflect the latest evidence around the importance of introducing ‘vegetables first’, ‘vegetables frequently’ and vegetables in variety. The evidence shows that the weaning period (typically around 6-12months) provides a unique window of opportunity to influence infants' food preferences, which can track throughout childhood and beyond.
Paul Lindley, Founder & Chairman, Ella’s Kitchen, comments: “We are a business that puts social responsibility at its heart. Our mission is to improve children’s lives through developing healthy relationships with food. As a nation, we need to do more to focus our attention on the eating habits of the under-fives and look at the very start of when babies start to explore food - as this is where relationships with food, both good and bad, are formed.
"We were disappointed that the Governments recently published Childhood Obesity Plan did not include anything around the vital early years’ period, as our research has revealed that this is a crucial time for influencing children’s long-term health. Weaning provides a unique “window of opportunity” to influence little ones’ long term food preferences. We are therefore calling on Public Health England to review its current weaning guidelines to reflect the latest evidence, which supports a vegetables first, vegetables frequently and vegetables in variety approach, as this is a simple step that mums and dads can take, to help little ones develop a healthy relationship with food from the very first taste.”
Ella’s Kitchen is calling-on retailers, baby food manufacturers, healthcare providers and mums and dads to spread the word about a vegetables first, vegetables frequently and vegetables in variety approach to weaning. Visit www.ellaskitchen.co.uk for more information and show your support for the campaign by tweeting #VegForVictory.
