Research was focused on four countries: France, Germany, Italy and the UK. These countries- which have the largest populations of all EU member states - were selected in order to study similarities and differences in dietary habits across Europe.

Interviews were carried out with a total of 1600 children aged 8 to 15 years, with 400 interviews taking place in each of the four countries covered. Since children in this age bracket are know to show significant differences in understanding and the ability to express themselves, research was carried out on three age groups: 8-10 year-olds; 11-12 year-olds; and 13-15 year-olds.

A standard questionnaire was used in all four countries and across the three age groups (see technical appendix); and multiple responses were allowed for all questions marked with an asterisk (*) in the questionnaire. In each household contacted, parental permission was obtained to interview one child. Field work was carried out in December 1994, January 1995 and May 1995.

Responses in this report were not broken down by age, sex and social class because it was found that the differences in responses given across these segments were not overly significant, and that general trends emerged right across these groups.