New research for Survation on behalf of Action for Children shows parents find it hard to get children off their screens and eating well:
• Almost one in four (23%) parents say controlling the amount of time their children spend watching TV or playing on their computer, laptop or phone is the most difficult thing to get their children to do.
• Almost one in five (19%) find getting their children to eat the right food the hardest daily task.
• Only 5% of parents find getting their children to bath a difficulty – indicating the majority of children don’t resist bath time.

Other findings include:
• Fewer parents with one child (17%) find getting their child to eat well the most difficult task than parents with three children (22%)
• Older parents find it harder than younger parents to control their children’s TV, computer, console and phones. Only a fifth (20%) of parents aged 18 to 34 compared to over a third (37%) of parents over 55 find controlling devices the hardest task.
• However older parents find it easier to make their children eat the right food. 24% of parents aged 18-34 compared to 15% of parents over 55 find healthy eating the hardest task.
• Parents in the North-East (14%) and Yorkshire (15%) tend to find it easier than their Southern counterparts in the West Midlands (23%) and Wales (22%) to make their children eat well.

Survation interviewed 2,037 UK parents aged 18+ online about their experiences of parenting between 20th – 30th July 2015. Full tables can be viewed here.