NORTH Yorkshire County Council is supporting a national Change4Life campaign that encourages parents to ‘‘look for 100-calorie snacks, two a day max’’ to cut their children’s sugar intake.

In North Yorkshire, 21 per cent of four to five-year-olds and 30 per cent of 10 to 11-year-olds are living with excess weight.

Parents can access special offers and money-off vouchers on a range of healthier snacks at selected supermarkets by signing up to Change4Life for money-off vouchers at nhs.uk/change4life.

The Change4Life Food Scanner app also shows parents how many calories and how much sugar, salt and saturated fat is in their food to help to make healthier choices easier. It can be downloaded from the iTunes Store or Google Play.

County councillor Caroline Dickinson, North Yorkshire’s Executive Member for Public Health, Prevention and Supported Housing, said: “We want to support parents to take control of their children’s snacking by raising awareness of the Change4Life campaign, which promotes healthier snacks.

“This is because half of children’s sugar intake – currently around seven sugar cubes a day – comes from unhealthy snacks and sugary drinks, leading to obesity and dental decay.”

As part of its wider commitment to tackle childhood obesity, the county council provides a lifestyle service for children and families called Healthy Choices.

The free service provides a 12-week family-focused package of support for children and young people who are above a healthy weight.

After completing the programme, families are offered continued support to help them to stay on track.

To find out more about the programme, call the Healthy Choices team on 01609 798081 or visit northyorks.gov.uk/healthy-choices.