LONDON, September 1 /PRNewswire/ --

LONDON, September 1 /PRNewswire/ --

- Parents in England Resent Government Intrusion

As parents and children prepare for the new school term in England, a new survey conducted by ICM reveals a massive 85% of parents say they should be the ones to decide what goes into their children's school lunchbox. Just 1% thinks the Government knows best.

The vast majority of parents across England (80%) reveal overwhelmingly that they trust themselves when it comes to deciding what to feed their kids in comparison to only 19% who trust the Government guidelines.(i)

When asked about the trust they place in different sources of nutritional information, parents with children of school age put themselves first, then their family GP (54%), followed by Government (19%) and teachers (16%), with celebrity chefs (13%) trailing behind.

A majority 78% of those surveyed believe that the Government is intruding on the way they live their lives by telling them what to put in their child's lunchbox, including 44% who think the Government is "intruding a lot". Only 11% think it is not intruding.

Commenting on the survey, independent nutritionist Dr Carrie Ruxton said: "Parents need advice and support to create healthier packed lunches for their children but I'm not convinced that bans on particular food categories are helpful. This survey shows that parents are frustrated with the current level of government intervention and prefer to make their own decisions about what to feed their children. Foods such as crisps, nuts and sweets can be part of a healthy diet provided intake frequency or portion size are not excessive and lower fat versions are chosen. There are now many examples of healthier options which we need to inform parents about in order to improve what children are eating at lunchtime."

64% of those parents who expressed an opinion feared the new regulations would result in teachers spending too much time policing lunchboxes instead of teaching.

Over half (52%) of parents questioned said the Government's guidelines for packed lunches have made it more expensive to prepare a child's lunch every day.(ii) In the lowest socio-economic groups this figure rises to 69%, demonstrating that the poorest families are the hardest hit and that often concern over the health of lunchboxes is a middle class luxury in times of economic hardship.(iii)

Just under half (44%) of parents surveyed agreed that the Government guidelines have made it more time consuming to prepare a child's pack lunch, while 63% of parents say the guidelines have proved so ineffectual they have had no impact on the way they prepare their children's packed lunches.(iv)

Note to editors

1) Carrie Ruxton is an independent dietician and health writer with a PhD in child nutrition. She appears regularly on TV, most recently on the BBC's Honey We're Killing the Kids. She has worked with a range of organizations including NHS boards, the European Commission, the Food Standards Agency and Trade Associations.

2) The results come from a survey of 1205 people carried out by ICM Research between 13th and 22nd June 2008. It was commissioned by SNACMA (the UK Snack, Nut and Crisp Manufacturers Association).

--------------------------------- (i) 84% refers to "trust a lot" category (ii) 57% refers to those parents who expressed an opinion, excluding "neither agree nor disagree", "not applicable" and "don't know" categories (iii) 69% refers to those parents who expressed an opinion in social class sector DE, excluding "neither agree nor disagree", "not applicable" and "don't know" categories (iv) 47% and 68% respectively refers to those parents who expressed an opinion, excluding "neither agree nor disagree", "not applicable" and "don't know" categories For press enquiries, regional breakdowns of the survey and interview requests with Carrie Ruxton please contact: Rishi Bhattacharya Rishi.bhattacharya@edelman.com +44(0)20-3047-2361

For press enquiries, regional breakdowns of the survey and interview requests with Carrie Ruxton please contact: Rishi Bhattacharya, Rishi.bhattacharya@edelman.com, +44(0)20-3047-2361