Most parents find it difficult to get their children to eat at family mealtimes, with almost one in four resorting to bribery to get their little ones to eat dinner, new research by the Irish Heart Foundation (IHF) has found.

The charity carried out an online poll as part of its annual September Heart Month. The theme of this year's event is ‘Healthy Meals Without the Drama' and it aims to help time-strapped parents to cook healthy meals which their children will actually eat.

The poll found that 80% of parents find it difficult to get their children to eat at family mealtimes, with 50% admitting that mealtimes often descend into drama and arguments.

Some 60% of parents feel that the biggest barrier to feeding their children healthy food is their child's picky eating habits, while 20% admitted to begging their children to eat their dinner.

"We're aiming to take the drama out of family meals by providing recipes that have been tried and tested out on children and approved by parents. Getting children to eat healthily isn't always easy. Not only can it be hard to find the time to cook something they will eat, but it can also be hard to cope with mealtime dramas," explained IHF dietitian, Janis Morrissey.

She said that the IHF is hoping to stop this mealtime drama by providing parents with a ‘toolkit of healthy eating and behaviour tips, snack ideas and family-friendly recipes to make heart-healthy meals easier for parents and yummier for kids'.

"At the heart of our ‘no-drama recipes' is of course our very real concern about the direct impact of poor nutrition on children's health. We know that risk factors for heart attack and stroke can begin even in early childhood, resulting from poor diet and lack of physical activity.

"For example, in the last number of years, the prevalence of one such risk factor, overweight and obesity, has increased in Irish children. The earlier we can build healthier habits in our children, the greater their chance of carrying these healthy habits into adulthood and preventing their own risk of heart attack or stroke," Ms Morrissey noted.

Currently in Ireland, one in four girls and one in five boys are overweight or obese. Furthermore, 37% of children eat sweets every day and 21% drink sugary drinks every day. Just 20% of children in Ireland consume fruit and vegetables more than once a day.

The IHF has created a dedicated website, nodrama.ie, to help parents to stop the drama at mealtimes and to ensure their children are fed a healthy diet. For more, see here