Shocking legacy of a fast food nation: Cash-strapped mum puréed CHEESEBURGERS for her child because she didn't know how to cook

Torquay woman sought help after bringing up baby on takeaways

Experts say parents avoiding parenting classes as they feel 'judged'

Many school children not toilet trained and unable to use knife and fork

Study finds students have packed lunch filled with cold chips and fish fingers



Shocking: A Torquay mother has admitted she feeds her baby pureed cheeseburgers as she cannot cook a thing (file picture)

A mother totally ill-equipped for parenthood has approached the authorities for help after admitting she feeds her baby pureed cheeseburgers because she cannot cook.

Experts believe this grave situation is mirrored all over Britain because a generation with little or no parenting skills is bringing up their children on a diet of fast food.

Significant numbers of youngsters also arrive at primary school not toilet trained and cannot even use a knife and fork, according the Child Poverty Commission.



Many of these households say they are too poor to buy items like fruit and vegetables as costs continue to rocket, but the truth is far too many cannot cook at all, family support groups say.



And despite courses being run all over the country helping parents to cook and look after their children better, many do not go because they feel 'judged' and fear their child will be taken into care.

Members of Torbay Child Poverty Commission in Devon heard from the local woman who pureed cheeseburgers from a fast food restaurant for her child because she didn't know how to cook.

Independent child poverty expert Michelle Kennedy, who chairs the commission, admitted she 'gulped' out loud after hearing the claims.



Another woman who was given a carrot also admitted she had no idea what it was, she said.

The Commission also heard community services were trusted more than local government services by struggling families.

Linda Cregan, CEO of the Children’s Food Trust, said:' Torbay has set an excellent example in making their child poverty meetings public and the Children’s Food Trust hopes that they and other local authorities make use of the many tools available to tackle this difficult situation, such as running family Let’s Get Cooking clubs, or offering cookery training for professionals working with these families.

'Good, nutritious food throughout childhood but particularly in a child’s early years is critical to healthy development – it is a vital factor not only in preventing obesity but also in performance at school. Sadly, in many cases family cooking skills have been lost through over generations, not helped by the loss for many years of cookery from the school curriculum.'

This week a nationwide survey of children's eating habits found they are being sent to school with cold chips or a packet of biscuits in their lunchbox.

One reason behind the food children are taking with them is that the value of money has plummeted by two-thirds over the last 30 years as the cost of everyday goods rockets.

A three-fold increase in retail prices means that someone would need £299 today to have the equivalent purchasing power of £100 back in 1982, according to the Children's Food Trust.

Worrying: Many new parents cannot cook and are afraid the authorities will intervene if they seek help (posed by models)

One person told the Trust that 'some children come in with just a packet of biscuits'. Another said they had seen 'poorer quality sandwich fillings, sometimes just margarine'.

The poll asked 253 adults, including youth workers, childminders, teachers, doctors and hospital staff, for their views on how children's diets have changed.

It found that more than four-fifths (84.6 per cent) say that in the course of their work, they have seen children who they think are not getting enough to eat.



A third person said 'some families only give cold cooked rice or cold chips with fishfingers or similar.'



Poor diet: Adults working with children were surveyed about the quality of children's food - and some reported packed lunches consisting of cold chips and fishfingers

Lib Dem Bobbie Davies said: 'People feel they're not going to be judged and their children aren't going to be taken away from them.'

