Travelling as a single parent can be tough at the best of times - factor in the stress of planning everything by yourself and footing the entire bill for you and the kids and to be honest, you can wonder why you didn't just stay at home. What you really don't need is to spend all of your holiday budget before you even arrive, and yet new findings by holiday platform selfcatering.co.uk have found that children aged between 9-14 years are flatly refusing home-made sandwiches or wraps when travelling by car on a UK getaway, meaning increased costs for single parents.

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With the first half term of the year looming, more than 10m cars are expected to be on UK roads across the week-long break, meaning the fast food chains could be raking it in as according to the study, kids are now insisting on a Greggs, McDonalds or Pret while on the move, not content with their cheese and pickle sarnies on the back seat.

Questioning more than 2,100 parents on its platform, most (76%) said that sandwiches are often left uneaten, with just over half (52%) of parents giving in to demands for shop and cafe-bought fixes just so their children would eat and not get hangry on their travels. With the cost of living having surged, what might feel like a little thing could end up costing you a whole lot.

Nutritional Therapist Elizabeth Wall CNM, DipAIT,  said: “It’s worrying that children are snubbing home made food for other options.  It is crucially important for children (specifically school-age children) to receive adequate nutrition and to meet the recommended intake levels of all essential vitamins and minerals.

"The problem with shop bought foods is that they are generally deplete of these essential vitamins and minerals due to being highly processed as opposed to being 'whole foods'. Furthermore, processed ready made foods tend to contain high amounts of calories, fat, and sugar, as well as unwanted ingredients such as artificial colours, sweeteners, and flavours which can be detrimental to health if regularly consumed in the diet.

“Not only on a nutritional level but from a cost perspective, planning and preparing in advance is always going to be the better option. Pre preparing food at home for long journeys helps to keep parents in control of their children's nutrient intakes. Getting children involved in the kitchen to help prepare the food they are going to eat on the journey can be a good way of encouraging them to eat the healthy food parents want them to eat. Variety, and making it engaging and fun is key.”

Is this something that you've noticed as a parent? Are kids getting more demanding when it comes to eating out and, more importantly, should we be putting our foot down and insisting they eat whatever we've made them? Apparently not. According to the study, the car journey to and from their holiday destination is not among the line up of things we’re prepared to cut back on, with many stating that a harmonious journey is among the top priority of things to get their holiday off on the right track.

Richard Young, CEO of selfcatering.co.uk said: “Food and holidays go hand in hand and our research certainly reveals how much parents are now relying on bought food for the start of a happy holiday.”

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The survey was conducted via the Selfcatering online portal between 17-January - 5th February, 2025.

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