Nutritionist takes to the airwaves
Tue, 11 Mar 2014 10:02:00 GMT
Nutrition and Health Course Leader Dr Deborah Pufal appeared on this morning’s BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast programme to discuss a new Government report suggesting that young people’s diets contain too much salt.
Dr Pufal joined BBC journalist Nick Garnett at the home of the Weston Family in Shipley near Bradford for a live discussion with presenter Rachel Burden to give her opinion on the family’s breakfast choices. She agreed that many of the products often eaten for breakfast, including cereals and breads, contain high levels of salt, but she felt that the complex carbohydrates and the vitamins and minerals which cereals are fortified with give children a good day, and even a cereal like Coco Pops, which is higher in sugar than some of the alternatives, can be preferable to going to school on an empty stomach, particularly as it is eaten with milk which is high in calcium. She explained that 20% of students go to school without breakfast and that there is evidence that their academic performance can be affected by this.
She sympathised with families hearing conflicting information and advice about healthy eating, but explained that it was about balancing our modern lifestyles which demand a breakfast which can be eaten quickly, and the Department of Health is working with the food industry to reduce the salt content of cereals by 2017.
Dr Pufal’s interview will be available on the BBC iPlayer until the 17th March (begins at 01:51:24)
