A simple, innovative new product may help you teach your child about nutrition and prevent unhealthy lifestyle habits.

At last week’s Children and Media conference, psychologist Dr Aric Sigman urged MPs to issue parents with guidelines for how much TV their children should be watching, saying that parents who regularly sit their children in front of the TV whilst getting on with the housework are unaware of the damage they are doing.

The average eleven year old spends a staggering 55% of their waking life in front of a TV or computer screen. Doctors agree that excessive television viewing is a major factor contributing to childhood obesity, an epidemic so huge that experts are blaming it for a massive increase in Type 2 Diabetes in the young. Type 2 Diabetes develops gradually as the body becomes slowly less able to effectively handle its blood glucose levels – either because the pancreas does not produce enough insulin to cope with the amount of sugar in the body, or because the insulin does not metabolise glucose effectively (called insulin resistance).

However, there has even been one study funded by Diabetes UK that has suggested an increase in Type 1 diabetes in the young. In Type 1 diabetes, which commonly develops in children and young adults, the pancreas stops producing insulin, the hormone that controls the body’s blood glucose, causing the glucose level to go very high. While primarily genetic, some scientists are suggesting that the recent sharp increase may be due to environmental factors. (Read more: Increase In Type 1 Diabetes In Under-Fives).

Shockingly, obesity experts even say that today’s parents may be set to outlive their children if they don’t educate them about nutrition and exercise to counteract the poor diet, fast food culture and bad lifestyle habits that constant TV encourages. For more on how your TV could be killing you, Click Here.

So get your children away from the TV and allow them to get involved in the exciting process (for them!) of preparing food and cooking a meal. The Little Helper Fun Pod will help you do just that.

The Fun Pod is quite simple. It’s a safely constructed platform for toddlers to engage with their parent without the danger of toppling over and becoming a hospital statistic, from which they can explore a plate of textured food, chat and become involved in planning a balanced meal.

It also encourages a healthy level of activity, since toddlers use more energy standing up and playing than sitting in front of the TV. And replacing TV with exercise for as little as 15 minutes a day could make a real difference. (Read more: Childhood Obesity 'Solved by Moderate Exercise').

The Fun Pod was invented by mum Kim Johnson out of her own need to keep her daughter safe and entertained whilst she was in the kitchen. It has been well received by health professionals, dieticians, parents and especially by children.