First the good news: more than half of eight-to-15-year-olds eat healthy snacks such as fruit, vegetables, seeds or rice cakes. Now the bad: an 'alarming' one in three children eat crisps every day, while almost two-thirds have them as a snack regularly.
These are the findings of research by YouGov SixthSense. In a 'No S**t, Sherlock' survey, the organisation found that, on the whole, confectionery is more popular than a healthy apple or banana, with 63 per cent of children eating sweets, compared with 54 per cent opting for fruit first.
Almost seven in 10 children snack at least once a day, with 16 per cent eating at least twice a day between meals.
In further astounding (I'm kidding) revelations: for adults, fruit is the most popular snack (51 per cent), followed by crisps (43 per cent), biscuits (40 per cent), chocolate bars (36 per cent) and other chocolate confectionery (27 per cent).
And perhaps its most astonishing discovery is the fact that 46 per cent of male crisp eaters say they eat them because they are hungry, while 36 per cent of women say they eat them to satisfy cravings.
James McCoy, of YouGov SixthSense, said: "Anyone concerned about childhood obesity will find this report alarming."
Hmm, not really.
But he added: "While it's encouraging that fruit rates highly as a snack for children, they are still eating far more crisps and confectionery. More needs to be done to make healthier snack options more appealing."