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2 Introduction2.1 Why a healthy diet is important for childrenFood is meant to nourish children and help them grow. A child’s diet can haveprofound influence upon his or her health, with effects that reach well intoadulthood. There are many factors that encourage children to choose foods thatare not good for them, and food preferences (and brand preferences) learned inchildhood may persist into adult life.A poor diet can contribute to a child becoming obese, or anaemic, or suffer dentaldecay. Childhood obesity can give rise to mechanical damage to joints andgrowing bones, and obesity and poor nourishment may lead to increased risk ofdegenerative diseases later in life, including diabetes, osteoporosis, high bloodpressure, heart disease, and certain cancers (Roos and Prattala, 1999; Frankel,1998).The consensus view on sugars and disease identifies those sugars which areneither naturally present in milk nor intrinsically bound up in the cells ofunprocessed fruit as ‘Non-Milk Extrinsic’ (NME) sugars, and states that NMEsugar consumption is a cause of dental caries (COMA, 1991). The greatest toothdecay is found among those who consume sugar most frequently. Parents may beaware that consuming sweets between meals can threaten teeth as well as spoilingthe appetite, but they may not be aware that frequency of consumption is thegreatest risk factor, and therefore that sweet snacks and drinks between meals arethe most likely cause of tooth damage. Nor may they realise that refined starchesmay also play a part in causing dental caries, as they form a sticky paste aroundthe teeth. The combination of sugars and sticky starches – for example in theforms of biscuits and sweet breakfast cereals – may be especially damaging(Rugg-Gunn and Nunn, 1999).6