How do processed foods affect children?

Put simply, a processed food is any food that has been changed in some way during its preparation. Foods that are unprocessed or sometimes called ‘natural’ foods, are the edible parts of plants and animals. These are the foods that should form the main part of our diet.

There is a scale that is used to help us work out how much a food has been processed. The NOVA scale below divides foods into four groups.

Navigating this is hard work on many levels. Ultimately, we should ideally be eating more of the foods that are unprocessed or minimally processed and less of the processed and ultra-processed foods (UPFs). This isn’t easy.

According to the Soil Association, British children have the highest levels of ultra-processed food intake in Europe, with under 14s getting an average of two thirds (67%) of their daily energy intake from these types of food.

UPFs are the foods that we should be eating less of where it’s possible. They contain additives as well as sugar and salt and can promote a preference for sweet and salty flavours. This is the case for us all but particularly important for children and young people as they develop their likes and dislikes.

Foods made for babies and children are worth thinking about. Weaning snacks, for example, are a massive market and, for many, a regular component of the weaning journey. These packaged snacks are not equivalent to whole foods. For example, a ‘veggie’ melt or straw is not the same as a cut up piece of vegetable. Many of these snacks make claims that they’re healthy or help develop self-feeding but in terms of ingredients, contain additives and salt and are considered an UPF. Consider these as occasional snacks and not a regular part of the diet.

Foods that display characters on the packaging encourage many children to want, nag or plead with you to buy them. Children recognise brands before they can read, and this clever use of marketing encourages many to buy UPFs that they wouldn’t have considered buying before.

On the other hand, processed foods and UPFs can be helpful to us in terms of time (they can be quick to prepare) and many are fortified with useful nutrients and therefore do offer some dietary benefit. Some are cheaper too.

Think about breakfast cereals – many are fortified with vitamins and minerals including vitamin D, B vitamins and iron. White bread is fortified with calcium because all UK white flour is fortified. Wholemeal bread is a useful source of fibre.

Tinned foods such as vegetables, beans and tomatoes are used to make quick meals and tinned tomatoes are a base for many meals such as bolognese and chilli.

You may also have a child with one or several food allergies, such as a cow’s milk protein allergy. Many of the suitable alternative products would be considered processed foods but are a necessary part of the diet and provide useful sources of calcium as well as offering similar tastes and textures that are helpful as part of the weaning journey. It’s a similar situation with products like gluten-free bread, which are classed as UPFs but are necessary for people with coeliac disease.

Those families wanting to eat less meat and fish and more of a plant-based diet may also turn to alternative protein sources that would be considered UPF but also play a vital role in the diet.

There are also some children who are highly selective eaters and some who have Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID), which is a recognised medical diagnosis. These children may be reliant on processed foods for all their nutritional needs and without them would be severely malnourished.

Most of us could consider eating less processed foods and more of the low or unprocessed foods.

Remember this isn't easy for any of us, but a here are few tips that may help:

• Look for a short ingredients list, ideally less than five.
• Foods with a long shelf life indicate highly processed foods, particularly ones that do not need to be kept in the fridge.
• Consider the scale of processing and try, if possible, to use less UPF if they form a major part of the diet. You could try keeping a food diary for a week and list the processed and minimally or non-processed food that your family regularly consume. This activity gives you the opportunity to reflect on how many processed and minimally or non-processed foods you and your family frequently eat. Remember, it's normal and very common to have processed food in our diet!
• Try and cook from scratch as much as is reasonably possible. Quick meals - such as omelettes, stir-fries, and a roast chicken dinner are great examples of an unprocessed meal! You could also try this homemade chicken nuggets cooking together activity.

Don’t feel guilty for using processed foods or UPFs – each family is different and has their own needs and challenges.

1. Swap fruit yoghurt to plain yoghurt (add fresh fruit or honey for sweetness).
2. Swap crisps to popcorn, nuts and seeds (try and avoid salted), potato skins or toasted wraps, pitta bread or breadsticks.
3. Swap cereal bars to flapjacks.
4. Swap scotch pancakes to homemade American pancakes.
5. Swap ham or salami to cooked chicken or tinned tuna in spring water.
6. Swap packaged white bread to wholemeal bread, easy homemade bread.
7. Swap ready-made burgers to homemade burgers.
8. Swap French Fries to homemade potato or sweet potato wedges.
9. Swap ready-made fishcakes to tuna fishcakes.
10. Swap bought cookies or biscuits to homemade muffins.
11. Swap sausages to homemade meatballs.
12. Swap bought smoothie to homemade smoothies.

To help make the swaps more fun for the family, you could create a challenge whereby each family member has to select a swap to make, each day of the week. You could write down these swap choices and have them visible on the fridge to reflect on and, if you are feeling competitive, you could always set a goal each week to see if you can achieve it.

Please read the food labels and be aware of any allergies your child may have before trying the above.

Read Ultra-processed food: A guide for parents of under-fives if you have younger children, or are looking for further healthy food swaps.

Once you’ve thought about some healthy swaps, involve your child in preparing a homemade meal. You’ll need:

• Recipes for simple, homemade meals.
• Relevant ingredients.
• Cooking utensils.
• Instructions.

Choose a simple BBC Food recipe to make together, then assign age-appropriate tasks to your child, like washing the vegetables or stirring the ingredients. Discuss the ingredients and their benefits as you cook, then enjoy the meal together and talk about how homemade food tastes compared to processed food.

Try this quick and easy pizza recipe or this spicy tomato pasta (with or without the chilli!) from Buddy Oliver.

1. Think ‘fresh’ – fruit and veg and other whole foods.
2. ‘Fewer than 5’ – ingredients on the back of the package.
3. Cooking from scratch – when you can.
4. Easy swaps – like homemade popcorn instead of crisps.
5. No pressure – even one swap is better than none!

Dr Chris van Tulleken takes a personal view on ultra-processed foods in his documentary Irresistible: Why we can't stop eating - available to watch on BBC Two and iPlayer.

Advice and expertise across our Happy Family Eating content was provided by children’s dietitian Angharad Banner - an independent and NHS dietitian.