'Nugget and chips' children at risk

Toddlers have been nicknamed the "nugget and chips" generation after a major survey showed that nine out of 10 are given junk food and almost half never eat at the family table.

Although the majority of babies are well fed, their diet changes once they are old enough to be seduced by television.

The research, by Mother & Baby magazine, comes weeks after the Government stalled on calls for a ban on direct advertising of junk food to children. Latest figures show that

8.5 per cent of sixyearolds and 15 per cent of 15-year-olds are obese.

"We are raising a nation of junk-food addicts who never touch fresh fruit or vegetables," said editor Karen Pasquali Jones. "Once toddlers have outgrown specially prepared foods, many parents simply don't know what to feed them."