Families urged to cut down on Easter eggs

A small Easter egg, of between 65-to-80 grams, can contain around 40g of sugar, about eight teaspoons. A large egg, weighing around 260-to-300 grams, can have around 30 teaspoons of sugar.

Wendy Ballard, dietician at Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), said: “It’s surprising how much sugar is in an Easter egg and when you consider that on average a child can receive around eight chocolate eggs of various sizes then it is worth considering the amount of sugar they could consume over the Easter break.

“We’ve got some ideas to avoid a chocolate overload this Easter such as limiting the amount of chocolate children eat so it is spread out over the week, buying the smaller eggs or spending egg money on a small gift such as a book or magazine or some Easter craft materials or giving children money instead to encourage saving.”

People can keep track of how much sugar is in their food by downloading the Change4Life Free Food Scanner app at the AppStore or Google Play, or by visiting nhs.uk/change4life/food-facts

Wendy said: “The app is a brilliant tool to use when out and about food shopping and I would urge parents to download it because the kids can get involved too and have lots of fun choosing products as well as learning more about the snacks that they eat. It is also a great tool for anyone looking at watching their weight as you can check the calories in your food as you put them in your shopping basket.”

Appointments

The CCG is also encouraging people to make sure that any urgently needed prescriptions are up-to-date before the Easter break. GP practices across the county will be closed on both bank holidays – Good Friday and Easter Monday.

There will be appointments under the extended hours service for pre-bookable routine GP appointments.

These are booked at a patient’s local practice and the appointment will be offered at a local GP hub so patients may not see their own GP.

Pharmacies across Shropshire are also operating on a rota over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.

Full details of the pharmacy rota are available at shropshireccg.nhs.uk or by calling NHS 111.

NHS 111 is free to call from any landline or mobile and is open 24/7, including bank holidays.

Trained advisors can help advise and direct you to the help and care you need including what to do if you need to see a doctor when your practice is closed as well as where your nearest pharmacy is.

Dr Julian Povey, chairman of Shropshire CCG, said: “There is no need to worry if your practice is closed this Easter Bank Holiday weekend as help and advice is at your fingertips – just call 111.

“NHS 111 can give you help and advice as well as direct you to services if you can’t wait until your practice is open.”