Research carried out by the Schools Health Education Unit revealed that a large number of girls skip meals in a bid to lose weight. According to the study of 83,000 school children, many of the children place a high value on being attractive and are influenced by their favourite celebrities.

When questioned, a third of girls in Year 10 said that they had missed breakfast, while a quarter of those girls had also missed lunch the previous day. As the girls get older, the percentage that skip meals increases, with two thirds of girls aged 14 and 15 years old looking for ways to perfect a particular look. Although 10 percent of children in Year six regularly eat crisps, chocolate sweets on a regular basis, 40 percent of children that age never eat protein. According to Dr Laura Wyness, a leading scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation, girls are under pressure to achieve a “perfect “ body shape, which is exacerbated by the media.

Young girls frequently smoke, miss meals and limit any foods which can be seen as fattening, like dairy or red meat. As a result, the children are not getting adequate levels of protein, zinc, iron or calcium. The survey also revealed that kids as young as 12 years of age were drinking large amounts of alcohol, equating to 19 units of wine in a week. Unexpectedly, most of the kids were drinking at home or at friend’s homes and didn’t have to venture out for the alcohol.

Fear of violence which includes bullying, lack of sleep and spending time in front of the computer or TV rather than doing homework, were also problems faced by children, making it harder for them to stay awake during the day at school.