Fat, Sugar, Salt and Obesity

Obesity is responsible for more than 9,000 premature deaths per year in England. It is an important risk factor for a number of chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, some cancers, and type 2 diabetes.

Obese people are also more likely to suffer from psychological and mobility problems that result in a poorer quality of life.

The latest figures show that obesity in children aged 2-10 rose from 9.9% to 14.3% between 1995 and 2004.

Obesity in both adults and children can occur throughout society: it is not restricted to certain groups.

Cooking for  your children from fresh ingredients helps you to control the amount of sugar and fat in their diet. Too much sugar and fat is largely what causes obesity. One other ingredient of food: salt or sodium  is also responsible for many health problems, such as high blood pressure and heart disease.

If you do buy ready made food for your children, you may find it useful to use the following nutritional information to help you to choose those foods which are least likely to cause your children harm.

To judge the quality of the food which you buy, look closely at the Nutrition Information panel which many foods display. The list below will help you to work out if the product has high levels of fat, sugar or salt / sodium.

Amount per 100g - High level

Total fat - 20g
Saturated fat - 5g
Sugar - 10g
Sodium - 0.5g
Salt - 1.25g

Amount per 100g - Low level

Total fat - 3g
Saturated fat - 1g
Sugar - 2g
Sodium - 0.1g
Salt - 0.25g