Britain's children are being poisoned by a "junk culture"of processed food, computer games and over-competitive education, an influential group of children's authors and experts warned.

In an open letter to The Daily Telegraph, 110 teachers, psychologists and children's authors including the internationally acclaimed author Philip Pullman1 and Penelope Leach, a leading childcare expert--called on the government to act now to prevent childhood being killed off altogether.

Forced "to act and dress like mini-adults," children are becoming increasingly depressed and experiencing escalating levels of behavioral and developmental problems, they said.

Since children's brains are still developing, they cannot adjust as full-grown adults can, to the effects of ever more rapid technological and cultural change," the letter said.

"They need what developing human beings have always needed, including real food (as opposed to processed "junk"), real play (as opposed to sedentary, screen based entertainment), first hand experience of the world they live in and regular interaction with the real-life significant adults in their lives.

The experts condemned Britain's increasingly "target-driven" education system and urged the government to recognize children's need for more time and space to develop.

一群有影响力的儿童作家、专家警告道，由加工食品、电脑游戏和竞争过于激烈的教育构成的“垃圾文化”正在毒害英国的儿童。

在致《每日电讯报》的一封公开信中，110名教师、心理学家和儿童作家——包括世界闻名的作家菲利普· 普尔曼以及顶级儿童保育专家佩内洛普· 利奇——呼吁政府马上采取行动，阻止“垃圾文化”把孩子们的童年完全毁掉。

他们说，孩子们被迫采用“小大人”式的行为方式与穿着打扮，结果变得越来越压抑，行为和个人发展方面的问题也日趋严重。

信中说道：“由于孩子们的大脑仍处在发育阶段，所以面对日新月异的科技、文化带来的影响，他们无法像成人那样去调整自己。

“未成年人一直以来就需要的那些东西，如天然食品而不是 “垃圾加工食品”、真实的游戏而非久坐在电脑屏幕前的娱乐、对自己生活的世界的第一手体验、与真实生活中那些他们生命中重要的大人经常性的交流，这些东西现在的孩子也需要。”

专家们指责英国愈演愈烈的“目标导向”的教育体系，督促政府认识到儿童需要更多的时间与空间去发展自我。