 The charity hopes to expose the amount of fat contained in crisps |
Scottish children are putting their long term health at risk by eating too many crisps, according to a charity. A British Heart Foundation survey of 1,153 UK children found 60% of eight to 15-year-olds admitted eating at least one packet a day.
According to the charity, this is the equivalent of a child drinking almost five litres of cooking oil every year.
The Food and Drink Federation said it welcomed debate, but believed "scare tactics" were a "waste of time".
The findings were released to coincide with the British Heart Foundation's Food4Thought campaign, which aims to highlight the risks of daily unhealthy snacking.
A new advert will feature a young girl drinking from a bottle of cooking oil with the caption - "what goes into crisps goes into you".
The charity wants to make children and their parents more aware of the salt, fat and sugar found in snacks and ready meals.
However, the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) said the campaign was voiced concern.
FDF communications director, Julian Hunt, said: "We welcome anything that raises the debate about diet, but scare tactics are a waste of time.
"One of the great things about our industry is that we strive to give consumers genuine choice, whether it is a better for you version or a completely reformulated standard product."
Childhood obesity
The BHF is also calling for a ban on television and internet adverts for junk food, which are aimed at children.
Its medical director, Professor Peter Weissberg, said: "Daily unhealthy snacking is a worrying habit.
"Rising rates of childhood obesity and cases of Type 2 diabetes paint a particularly grim picture for the future.
"This campaign is about challenging our children, alerting them to what's lurking in their snacks, takeaways and ready meals."
According to the BHF, further figures from its research demonstrates that across the UK we eat our way through a tonne of crisps every three minutes.
The charity said this would fill an Olympic size swimming pool every 14 hours and a telephone box every 43 seconds.
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Rising rates of childhood obesity and cases of Type 2 diabetes paint a particularly grim picture for the future
