THOUSANDS of school children are finding out about the hidden dangers of sugar as part of a new schools initiative across York.

City firm Benenden and York City FC Foundation have teamed up to promote healthy eating to primary school children to encourage them to eat less sweet food. More than 2,000 children are taking part in healthy eating workshops run by staff from the private healthcare provider and the football foundation.

The pupils from more than 20 schools around York will take part in the workshops, which run through to Christmas and started immediately after the half-term break.

On Thursday last week they were running their workshops at Headlands School in Haxby.

Through the interactive sessions, the aim is that Key Stage 1 and 2 pupils discover how much sugar can be found in their favourite foods.

The programme focuses on encouraging children to swap high-sugar snacks and drinks for healthier options with low sugar content and will involve interactive games and activities: all of the pupils receive a gift from Benenden for taking part, as well as the opportunity to enter a competition to draw their favourite sugar swaps and pledge how they can make a change to win the chance to visit a York City FC home game.

Paul Keenan, head of communications at Benenden said: “When we’ve run similar sessions in the past, we’ve found that the schools and children who took part really engaged with the topic and enjoyed the interactive way the workshops are presented.

“This year we aim to reach even more primary schools around York, including some new schools we haven’t worked with before, and in particular, some in rural locations who are sometimes overlooked for funding and offers of interactive support.

“We really hope that the sessions will show the pupils the effect on their bodies of eating too much sugar, as well as some easy ways they can reduce the amount of sugar they eat which would have a positive impact on their health and wellbeing.”

Paula Stainton, foundation manager of York City FC Foundation, said: “It’s really important that we continue to help educate young people about making healthy choices. By delivering this programme to so many five to 11-year-olds, we are encouraging them to think about what they put into their bodies from a very early age, with the hope that this will foster healthy eating habits.”

For more information on how sugar affects your body please visit https://www.benenden.co.uk/healthier-you/sugar-bowl/