DIET AND THE UNDER FIVES

Abstract

A recent report by the Child Health and Nutrition Working Party of the British Dietetic Association discussed the effects of changing the diets of pre‐school children along the lines currently suggested for adults. Neither the NACNE nor the COMA Reports made specific recommendations for children under five: COMA specifically excluded them and NACNE stressed the potential dangers of modifying children's diets to reduce fat and increase fibre intake. Concern has been expressed amongst dietitians that widespread media coverage of the need for dietary change, in the absence of specific recommendations for children, could result in the extension of the general guidelines to young children.