On day three of the Echo's focus on child health, we play the generation game with three members of one family and ask: which era had the healthiest youngsters..?

IN the past 60 years, the food our children have eaten has changed beyond all recognition.

However, the question remains - was post-war eating healthier or does our greater choice today mean we can follow a more nutritious diet?

Today, on day three of our series looking at childhood obesity, we speak to three generations of a typical family, the Dawkins of Southampton, to chart the revolution that has taken place in the kitchen.

Grandmother Margaret Dawkins was born in 1943. Rationing, which existed until 1951, was still in place and the diet consisted of basic, no-frills meals. For the first time in our country's history the government had control over what the population ate and, ironically, for the first time in many cases, people were fitter and healthier than ever.

Fats and sugar were kept to a minimum along with meat consumption, and plenty of fresh vegetables were eaten. It may not have been the most exciting diet but, by golly, it was good for you.

Rationing was introduced to ensure that food didn't run out. Every member of a family was given a ration book and it gave precise details of certain types of food that were allowed during the week.

To claim the food, the book had to be stamped and then items such as meat, dairy products, sugar and tea would be handed over. Meat to the value of 1s 2d (six pence today) was available. Sausages weren't rationed but were difficult to get.

Just a few ounces of cheese, butter and margarine were allowed per person, along with one fresh egg a week. A pound of jam was allowed every two months and, in a ruling which would horrify today's youngsters, just 12oz of sweets were allowed every four weeks.

Then, following the relative austerity of the post-war years, the 60s saw another gastronomic upheaval. Supermarkets started to become a major force on the high street and a multicultural cuisine began to take root, with Italian, Indian and Chinese restaurants.

Growing up in the late 60s and early 70s, Margaret Dawkins' daughter Lynda de Wolf began to experience different foods. The concept of takeaways was born and eating out began to flourish. As she in turn brought up her family of five, she began to serve more processed foods and ready-made meals.

Her son Jack, 17, by contrast has been brought up with a healthy outlook on eating. He abhors the fast food culture and, as an A-level PE student, can't understand why many of his peers are content to be couch potatoes.

Nutrition expert Barbara Cox says the post-war diet was low in fat and high in fibre and nutrients. The lack of fridges and freezers meant food was bought and cooked fresh daily. Barbara said: "The whole ethos was different in those days. Children were taught to cook meals from scratch by their mothers and it was on the curriculum at school.

"Today children just aren't being taught. I was shocked when I visited a school recently and I was showing them different fruits and vegetables and they had no idea what they were called."

In answer to the question of whether it was healthier in the days of rationing, the answer has to be YES.

Barbara added: "There may be more variety now but studies have shown that the food in the grandmother's day would have been more nutritious.

"Our food is sent all over the country and brought in from all over the world and then it is stored. Sixty years ago it was grown locally and eaten fresh - and when she was bringing up her family the grandmother had the time and energy to create nutritious meals."