 Find out what they bought at 0740 |
As childhood obesity continues to rise, most of us believe it's parents who should take responsibility for their children's weight. That's according to new research commissioned by the Food Standards Agency.
But the FSA has also found that parents' role in keeping their children healthy is being undermined by constant adverts for junk food, targeted at children.
To put the FSA's findings to the test, Breakfast put the kids in charge of the family shop. We sent four children to do the supermarket run, armed with �40.
Their mum, Kamanza Amiyhia, tries to make sure the children eat a balanced diet. But left to their own devices, her two sets of twins choose a mountain of sugary cereals, processed foods and fizzy drinks. They also picked a grapefruit - we think they liked the colour.
Home cooking
How can you get children to eat their greens - or appreciate proper food? We talked to the chef Anthony Worrall Thompson. A recording of our interview will be available soon We also talked to an academic who's been looking at the role our hormones play in obesity. Professor Steve Bloom explained that some obese people lack a hormone which tells them that they've eaten enough. In future, it may be possible to synthesise it - but he still believes that a healthy life-style is the key to avoiding obesity.
And: we want to know what you think about junk food and advertising. click here to jump straight to our e-mail form
Britain's waistline has been expanding rapidly for the past quarter of a century.
Nearly one in four women is now clinically obese - and experts are warning the figure could rise to 40 per cent within the next few years.
Teenagers are also podging out: 15 per cent of 15 year olds are already classed as obese.
The FSA has found that food adverts aimed at children are dominated by just four types of product: sugary Breakfast cereals, soft drinks, sweets and snacks.
It says there's also been a big rise in advertising by fast food chains, which use free gifts to tempt youngsters through their doors.
Do we only have ourselves to blame if we're fat - or does fast food advertising put temptation in our way? Ue this form to tell Breakfast what you thinkDisclaimer: The BBC may edit your comments and cannot guarantee that all e-mails will be published.
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click here to watch Breakfast's shopping experiment 
