The first ever European Toddler Nutrition Index, commissioned by GrowingUpMilkInfo.com, examines the attitudes to diet and food of mums with toddlers in: the United Kingdom, Netherlands, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, and Italy.
The result is that more than one in ten UK mums (12%) think they are ‘bad mothers’ when their child refuses food, compared to only a small percentage of Dutch mothers feeling like a bad parent when letting their toddler get away with not eating healthy meals (3%).
Nestlé study shows kids have unhealthy eating habits earlier
Over four in 10 UK mums (43%) let their toddler get away with not eating certain foods, with almost 38% cracking under the pressure of these demands within the first five minutes.
The survey reveals that UK parents are the most likely of the European countries polled to give sweets, biscuits, chocolate, and fizzy drinks as a reward for eating well or for good behaviour (39%), compared to just one in ten (13%) health conscious French mums. Italian mothers are almost three times more likely than UK mums to give in to their toddler’s junk food cravings simply because they demand them.
The survey highlights that almost over a third of German mothers surveyed (38%) are pestered at least once a day for sweets, biscuits, chocolate, and fizzy drinks; the highest percentage in Europe. However, a quarter of these mums remain stern and claim they never give in to toddler tantrum threats.
Source: GrowingUpMilkInfo.com
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024