Heyyyy, it's Pop-TAX-tic

[Finnegan]

Apples are inaccessible to a kid with pocket money? Where the **** do you live? There's tones of places to buy fruit in spitting distance of my house. Granted a fair few of them display it on the main road but then I've never heard a ten year old complain that his food might have too much CO on it.

I say again, kids want sweets cos they taste nice.

If your kid is pissing all of his pocket money away on sweets and getting fat... STOP FVCKING GIVING HIM POCKET MONEY.

Good God.

I sometimes wonder how my parents managed to raise me without Jamie Oliver's help, they must be living gods.

[21st Century Fox]

I stand by that. As someone pointed out fruits contain more vitamins and minerals than 'pop' drinks but drinking high amounts of fructose is bad as well.

If someone said they had a glass of coke everyday too many people would say that's unhealthy. If someone said they had two glasses of orange juice every day too many people would say that was healthy. I know it's conjecture but that is the viewpoint of a lot of the public: Fruit = healthy, pop = unhealthy.

Steve Jobs was a fruitarian and look how thin he was....

[Guest MattP]

True.

I dunno, I don't think that culture can be compared to anything, they have cheap fast food thrown at them all day every day. I don't think any population could overcome the push these companies have over the culture and advertising in that land.

Apples are inaccessible to a kid with pocket money? Where the **** do you live? There's tones of places to buy fruit in spitting distance of my house. Granted a fair few of them display it on the main road but then I've never heard a ten year old complain that his food might have too much CO on it.

I say again, kids want sweets cos they taste nice.

If your kid is pissing all of his pocket money away on sweets and getting fat... STOP FVCKING GIVING HIM POCKET MONEY.

Good God.

I sometimes wonder how my parents managed to raise me without Jamie Oliver's help, they must be living gods.

Agree with every word.

[Parafox]

You only need to look at the places where Coca Cola and MacDonalds DON'T have an outlet to see how insidiously invasive these companies are. They don't care if kids get ill because of their products as long as they sell loads.

Taxing fizzy drinks won't make a jot of difference. It's the influence the mighty soft drinks firm has that needs to be scrutinised.

[Captain...]

Apples are inaccessible to a kid with pocket money? Where the **** do you live? There's tones of places to buy fruit in spitting distance of my house. Granted a fair few of them display it on the main road but then I've never heard a ten year old complain that his food might have too much CO on it.

I say again, kids want sweets cos they taste nice.

If your kid is pissing all of his pocket money away on sweets and getting fat... STOP FVCKING GIVING HIM POCKET MONEY.

Good God.

I sometimes wonder how my parents managed to raise me without Jamie Oliver's help, they must be living gods.

Maybe inaccessible is the wrong word, but my point is that it is much easier to get your hands on, crisps, sweets, coke, chocolate, than healthier alternatives, of course kids can get an apple if they desperately want one, but if they want something they will go to a newsagents, or a corner shop, not a green grocers or a supermarket.

Those that do sell fruit don't want to sell one banana or one apple, they price by kilo, I know when I was a kid I wouldn't go and pick one banana off the bunch weigh it and calculate the price, even though I liked bananas, you look at things like grapes, strawberries, raspberries, they are not sold in snack pack sizes, nor ready to eat, you need to wash them.

Likewise fruit juice, you very rarely see ribena cartons (for example) in the fridge, you will see small bottles of juice or bigger bottles of pop which are cheaper. Any kid who like orange juice and Coke would buy coke because you get more for less, kids don't go to juice bars.

If a kid goes out every lunch time/break time/on the way back from school, they will always buy pop and sweets as they don't have the option of other things, except limited shops that sell snack bags of fruit.

There is separate issue on educating parents to buy healthy food and give them to their kids.

[Parafox]

Sorry to be pedantic CapShrap but supermarkets sell snack size packs of fruit, usually grapes or mixed fruit.

And.. Macdonalds sells fruit in a pack

[Captain...]

Sorry to be pedantic CapShrap but supermarkets sell snack size packs of fruit, usually grapes or mixed fruit.

And.. Macdonalds sells fruit in a pack

Not many, I appreciate they exist, but it is not common in Newsagents and corner shops, and generally kids would go to them instead of a larger supermarket.

[Leicester Piggott]

There was a guy on that Supersize program last night whose main diet was in fact cola drinks and he was like a rake. The fat bloke was on burgers, fried food, pizza's and was HUUUUGE.

I think the proposal is aimed at the other effects of sugar intake; diabetes, tooth decay, etc, as well as obesity.

Plus we are pretty ignorant of just how much sugar is added to foods these days, in particular processed foods. Cereal's are my main gripe. Why do so many know have "chocolatey" alternatives. Cereal bars too. Just buy a packet of porridge oats and BOIL SOME MILK.. lazy, lazy people.

There is often a lot more sugar in cereals than you'd realise too. I was quite surprised at how much is in a supermarket brand of say, bran flakes, for instance.

[Jaspa]

There is often a lot more sugar in cereals than you'd realise too. I was quite surprised at how much is in a supermarket brand of say, bran flakes, for instance.

Alpens prolly the worst Ive had

Some crushed Weetebix, a few dry raisens and 30% sugar.

Dorset cereals are great but theyre ridiculously expensive now.

Porridge, fruit nd honey 4 me

[ozleicester]

Mum or Dad, or Uncles or Aunties, and grandparents....... kids learn from what they see around them.