Parents call for ban on school vending machines

Parents want vending machines selling sweets, crisps and fizzy drinks banned from schools, a poll showed today. More than four out of 10 children - including half of teenagers - have an unhealthy diet, despite mounting concern over obesity rates.

Two thirds eat a packet of fat-saturated crisps most days of the week, while 41%

consume sugar-heavy drinks at a similar rate, parents admitted in a survey commissioned by The Times Educational Supplement.

The vast majority of secondary schools have vending machines as they are a valued source of extra income. But 79% of parents in England and Wales said they wanted them removed.

The FDS International poll of 736 parents of five to 16-year-olds also showed that parents believed that children spent an average of nine hours every weekend watching television and playing computer games.

That was twice as long as they spent playing sports or running around out of doors.