Parents Speak Out: how can a new food strategy make it easier to feed children healthily?

In part one of this blog series, we looked at the progress made over the past year in improving school food for children since launching the Our Children, Our Future parent manifesto for healthy children's food. 

Now we’re diving into what matters most to parents when it comes to labelling and packaging, energy drinks, and making healthy food more affordable and accessible.

Labels and packaging parents we can trust

When shopping for children’s food it can be challenging for parents to identify the healthy options available on the supermarket shelves. Although parents often use the information on packaging, the health claims on food products targeted at children are often highly misleading. Our polling revealed that only 3 in 5 parents say they trust manufacturer-led health claims and 8 in 10 parents want the government to improve nutritional labelling on children’s products.

A recent BBC panorama programme “The Shocking Truth about Baby Food Pouches” showed us how some baby food pouches are higher in sugar than they claim, but worryingly low in essential vitamins and minerals.

The programme is timely with new research from University of Leeds of over 630 products, which found that large numbers of commonly available and popular baby food products are high in sugary pureed fruit, and often watery and low in energy, minerals and vitamins. Can you believe more than half of snack products surveyed contain added sugar, undermining NHS and World Health Organisation guidance not to feed sugar to infants under 2 years?

Many toddler food brands also came under fire at 2025 Children's Food Awards this February, including Aptamil 3 Toddler Milk, Kiddylicious, Farley’s Reduced Sugar Rusks and even trusted brand Ella’s Kitchen.

Alice, parent ambassador says:

"Parents need those visual cues as you don’t have a lot of time to sit through and read the ingredients, you need to be able to see it really quickly through clearer labelling. I also trust the information that is being provided, and I find it gobsmacking that companies will be allowed to mislead."  

Lauren, parent ambassador says:

"I feel like it’s a minefield when going to the supermarket and you are trying to find something healthy for your children - it’s really hard to distinguish what is healthy or not. Children’s food has lots of bright colours and cartoons. This make children want the products which is not necessarily good for them."

The shocking truth is that there are no current regulations that limit the total amount of sugars in baby foods, and current standards are now out of date. We believe the government needs to take a much harder look at the infant and toddler commercial market and consider tighter regulation. Parents need honest, transparent nutritional information to support them with healthy, safe feeding, and there must be a much more concerted effort to ensure products are healthy and nutritious.

If you agree, email your MP today and ask them to write to government health ministers and demand better regulation of the commercial baby food sector – it will only take 2 minutes!

Protecting children from unhealthy food advertising & marketing

The 9pm watershed and online ban on advertising of some categories of high fat, salt and/or sugar (HFSS) products, coming into effect October 1st 2025 takes an important step by tackling product-based advertising on TV and online — but it still leaves major loopholes wide open. There has been a to-and-fro with the Advertising Standards Authority to clarify the guidance for business, and we are urging government to not to allow the industry to delay any further. However, brand advertising and outdoor ads remain largely untouched, and Government could go further. On outdoor advertising, Fran Bernhardt from Sustain is has worked with local authorities to introduce stronger, healthier food advertising policies in public spaces. Their work builds on the success of Transport for London’s groundbreaking 2019 policy, which cut down exposure to junk food ads - and even reduced unhealthy food consumption - without denting advertising revenue. Meanwhile, national rules still only go so far, limiting outdoor junk food ads to just within 100 metres of school entrances, and should part of the the government's next steps.

Our polling shows huge support from parents for limiting unhealthy food advertising and marketing, especially among those whose children have directly requested a food item due to advert exposure. 

Where’s Labour’s promised ban on energy drinks?

In our parent poll, when parents were asked to select their top three food policies from a list of twelve, banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children emerged as their number 2 priority, after healthy school meal expansion. So it was great news when a ban on sales of high caffeine energy drinks to under 16s was included as a measure in the Kings’ Speech – but we are still waiting for the long-promised consultation to come out. While some major supermarkets have voluntarily implemented a ban, other retailers plus most smaller and local stores still sell energy drinks to children. Our polling shows four in five parents (80%) support the introduction of a ban on sales of energy drinks to under-16s.

Aneita, parent ambassador says:

"Energy drinks pose serious health risks to our children. As a parent, it’s concerning to see the ingredients in these drinks, the harm it can cause to young people and how it may contribute to rising anxiety levels too. Government regulations should limit access to under 16s to prioritise children’s health and safety."

Our parent ambassadors Dr. Rounaq Nayak and Mezreet Rasul further discuss this with public health nutrition expert Professor Amelia Lake and why a ban energy drinks sales to under-16s is important for children’s health. 

Rounaq, parent ambassador says:

"Even my 9-year-old son talks about energy drinks, believing they'll make him run faster because he’s seen footballers promoting them. The government's promised pledge to stop the sales of energy drinks to under 16s is a step forward, but these drinks also need much clearer warning labels showing just how much sugar and caffeine they contain."

Banning sales of these drinks to under-16s is something that parents, teachers, health professionals and several retailers have backed. We just need the Government to act now - and soon.

Make healthy food more affordable for parents, and unhealthy food less available

Our parent polling showed that affordability of healthy options and the availability of unhealthy options are parents’ biggest challenges to ensuring their children eat healthily. For parents from the most vulnerable socio-economic groups, affordability is their greatest obstacle.  

The cost of living was cited as the issue of highest concern by 75% of parents, with food prices (69%) as the biggest pressure, ahead of housing, fuel or other bills. The Food Foundation’s 2025 Broken Plate report reveals that healthier foods are more than twice as expensive per calorie and less readily available. For the most deprived fifth of the population, following the government’s recommended diet would consume 45% of their disposable income — rising to 70% for families with children. Meanwhile, fast food outlets make up a quarter of all food businesses in England with nearly one in three in the poorest areas.

The Healthy Start scheme helps many low-income families with children under the age of four and pregnant women to buy fruit, vegetables, milk, pulses, and infant formula. However due to lack of awareness of eligibility, we estimate more than 220,000 infants, young children and pregnant people in England, Northern Ireland and Wales are missing out on this much-needed scheme. That’s why we have been urging the Government to move to an auto-enrolment system to ensure that all eligible families benefit — an approach we are actively advocating for through the Child Poverty Taskforce and one that could also be reconsidered as part of the broader food strategy. We have also called for expansion of eligibility to all families on Universal Credit, and fed into the Government consultation on permanent eligibility for families with No Recourse to Public Funds.

Back in 2018, the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) took aim at sugary drinks with more than 5g of sugar per 100ml. Now, the government is looking to tighten the rules even further by lowering that threshold to 4g, potentially pulling a wide range of borderline products into the levy’s reach. Many of these products currently sit just below the current limit. Alongside this, from April 2025, the tax rate was raised for the first time since 2018, part of lifting the levy in line with inflation by 27% by 2027,  making up for years of frozen rates. Finally the government is consulting on ending the current exemption for sugary milkshakes (both dairy and milk-alternatives). The consultation is open until 21 July 2025. While extending the SDIL is a welcome move, 47 health and children's groups working as part of the Recipe for Change campaign, are urging the government to go further by expanding similar financial incentives to reduct salt and sugar in a much wider range of foods including cakes, sweets, biscuits, crisps, and savoury snacks.

A better future for every child

Parents are hungry for change and they’re not alone. From labelling transparency to advertising regulation, from making healthy food more affordable to banning harmful energy drinks, families, health, medical and education experts, children's organisations and food charities are united in calling for action. With the right policies, leadership, and political will, we can build a food system that truly supports children’s health, not undermines it. The new food strategy process offers a window for the government to listen to the experiences and demands of parents - and make it easier to feed children healthily.  Let’s keep up the pressure, raise our voices, and work together to turn parent power into policy change because every child deserves the chance to grow up healthy, nourished, and thriving. Join our call!