EATING a packet of crisps a day is the equivalent of “drinking” almost five litres of cooking oil a year, the British Heart Foundation claims in a new campaign.

The findings are designed to shock the parents of the 50 per cent of children who admit to eating at least one packet of crisps daily.

The figures were released to coincide with the second phase of its Food4Thought campaign, and before World Heart Day on Sunday. The campaign sets out to expose the amounts of hidden salt, fat and sugar in many common snacks and takeaway and ready meals.

The advertising campaign will feature a young girl drinking from a bottle of cooking oil, with the caption: “What goes into crisps goes into you.”

About 2,500 schools will also be sent teaching resources in the shape of oversized burger boxes, to try to make children more aware of the damage that certain foods can do to their hearts.

Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director of the British Heart Foundation, said: “The BHF believes that having a daily dose of such a high-fat, nutritionally poor product is a threat to children’s long-term health. “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,” he said. “The BHF wants to expose the truth lurking within these foods and to help children and parents make healthier choices.”

A recent survey by the foundation of children aged 8 to 15 revealed that one in five children was eating at least two packets of crisps a day — the equivalent of nine litres of cooking oil a year. Data from Mintel showed that Britain ate a tonne of crisps every three minutes.

The foundation said that the crisp habit was just one aspect of unhealthy eating. It added that almost three quarters of mothers fed their children ready or takeaway meals more than three times a week. And according to a 2004 report, only 13 per cent of boys and 12 per cent of girls reported eating the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables daily.

“We are a nation drowning in excess oil, salt and sugar as we and our children continue to ignore the warnings and consume excessive amounts of unhealthy foods,” Professor Weissberg said. “Crisps are just the tip of the iceberg. If you consider all the other unhealthy foods our kids are consuming, the fat just continues to pile up.”

The foundation wants a ban on the marketing of junk food to children and cooking skills to be compulsory at school.

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