Children’s Eating Habits - Ireland - February 2017
Overview
 
What you need to know
Irish parents are encouraging their children to snack on more fresh fruit and vegetables when eating at home and are looking to reduce their intake of sugar to improve their children’s eating habits and better manage their weight. 

However, parents do not have a problem giving their children sweet treats occasionally, indicating that they see these products as permissible treats. Brands could look to place an emphasis on their smaller-format ‘fun size’ ranges to help position their products as part of a healthy and balanced diet.

Issues covered in this Report
This Report looks at the eating habits of children aged under 18 only – and does not count those aged over 18 but still living at home with their parents. Thus, all consumer data within this Report relates to parents of under-18s only. 

For the purposes of this Report, children’s eating habits have been examined in regard to three main areas:

●	children’s eating habits in the home;
●	children’s eating habits outside of the home;
●	how children’s health and diet can be improved. 

Data relating specifically to sales of food and drink to/for children is not included in this Report as it is not feasible to accurately quantify the market. Thus, this Report does not include a Market Size and Forecast section. The Report focusses mainly on the attitudes and behaviours of Irish parents.