A NUTRITIONIST has warned about the dangers of teenagers eating fast foods as a national survey revealed more young people than ever are turning to unhealthy options.

The BBC Good Food Nation survey found one in six young people are eating junk food twice a day.

In the 16-20 age category, one in six admitted eating fast food at least twice a day, with most people eating fast food two days a week

Helen Auburn, a nutritional therapist from Old Town, said a daily diet of fast food could have detrimental effects on physical and emotional health

“I’m not surprised at all, we as a country are in the grip of a fast food and sugar addiction,” she said.

“Nowadays you see more teenagers walking around looking like adults because they are overweight

“Fast food, foods that are high in sugar and salt play havoc with mood and fatigue, arteries can fur up.

“It can also affect the brain and the memory.”

And Helen said schools need to place more emphasis on eating healthily

“There needs to be education around the dangers of eating unhealthily as you would teach children about the dangers of smoking,” she said.

“People need to realise how serious this is and eat fresh, quick home-made food.”

Fiona Dickens, Swindon Borough Council’s public health programme manager, who is a qualified dietitian, said: “The findings of this national survey show that there’s still plenty of room for improvement in people’s diets, especially young people’s.

“We work closely with schools to support them in providing healthy meals and significant progress has been made in making healthy food options more appealing and reducing the availability of junk food and fizzy drinks.

However, as this report shows, we know that young people both use and are influenced by social media as well as television which can promote foods that are high in fat and sugar.

“The Change4Life initiative is fighting back and also using these channels to encourage people to choose healthier, tasty alternatives for example with the free Sugar Smart app, but it’s an ongoing battle.

“We have a scheme in Swindon called Alive ‘n’ Kicking which supports families who have overweight children and are committed to making positive changes to their lifestyle both in terms of diet and exercise.

The survey findings also illustrate considerable misunderstanding around what constitutes healthy meat consumption. As carbohydrates are commonly demonised by fad diets, it may be that people are eating more meat instead of healthy starchy foods, such as wholemeal bread, new potatoes or wholewheat pasta.

“Nearly half of respondents to the survey claimed to eat fresh food less than once a day, which is really concerning because the foundation of any healthy diet is making meals from scratch or choosing fresh options on the go.” For free recipes and snack ideas for healthy inspiration on the website Visit www.change4life.co.uk.