Nutrition survey: Knowing what's good for kids

By REBECCA WALSH, health reporter

Potatoes mashed or roasted are the best. Jam, peanut butter and vegemite are the top spreads and, yes, although their parents might not know it, children use pocket money and "money found on the floor" to buy soft drinks and chips, say children at Kowhai Intermediate School.

The food choices of the Auckland 11 to 13-year-olds reflected many of those uncovered in the 2002 National Children's Nutrition Survey.

Most ate breakfast before school but sometimes missed it if they were running late or didn't feel like it. Cereal and toast were the staple choices, although cooked breakfasts featured on some weekend menus.

"Sometimes in the morning I don't feel like breakfast, so I just buy a pie at the shop," says Cassandra Tutoka, 11. "I probably buy stuff from the tuck shop three times a week, things like cookies, Primo and Mizone - I love them - and mince and cheese pies."

When it comes to what goes in their lunchbox they mostly share the decision and the preparation with their parents. They know what's good for them, rattling off fruit, vegetables, sandwiches and "stuff at the bottom of the food pyramid". But there's a catch.

"A lot of the time people are given healthy lunches but they use their own money to buy something else," Alice Stacey-Jacobs, 13, says.

All 14 heads nod in agreement. Mention is made of fruit tubes (frozen fruit drink), cookies, crisps, pies and soft drinks.

Chicken is a popular choice at dinner time, described by 13-year-old Mitchell Black as "not too heavy, not too light". Few add salt to meals.

For some, takeaways were a fantasy while others ate them up to three times a week.

"We used to have takeaways once a week when mum had a fulltime job because everyone was tired," Grace Stacey-Jacobs says. "But now she doesn't work and we haven't had takeaways in ages, so I think it depends on time."

All the students took part in a 12- minute run every school morning and most said they were involved in a sports team.

The rules on TV and PlayStation varied - for some it depended whether they were staying with mum or dad. Shanice Evile, 12, isn't allowed to watch TV during the week but can at the weekend. "So I mostly watch it every single minute."


NZ Food, NZ Children: Findings of the 2002 National Children's Nutrition Survey