Many low income families cannot afford healthy diet says report

A report by the children's charity NCH has also found that many low income families in Northern Ireland cannot afford a healthy diet.

A lack of money sometimes makes it impossible for parents to feed their children healthily, the report found.

One in five parents said they simply do not have enough money for food.

The report, carried out by the Food Commission for NCH also found that the cost of a large healthy food basket in the province is 6% more than for the unhealthy equivalent.

The government must make healthy food affordable to low income families Ross McCrea NCH Northern Ireland

The Going Hungry document suggests it is almost impossible for parents on low incomes to afford to feed their children with nutritious food.

Ross McCrea, NCH policy office for Northern Ireland said the recent worries over obesity in young children had placed a lot of blame with parents.

"It is right to be concerned about rising levels of childhood obesity," he said.

"But NCH's report shows that it is unfair to place all the blame on parents and children.

"The comparatively high cost of healthy food and sophisticated marketing used to encourage children to eat junk food are also significant factors.

"The government needs to do much, much more if it is to put healthy food within the reach of children."

Other findings of the Going Hungry report found that 35% of parents surveyed lived more than two miles from a supermarket and that getting to and from the shops added to extra expense on top of their average food bill.

The charity has called on the government to develop a national action plan to stamp out food poverty.