Thought the turkey twizzler had had its day with the school dinners campaign? Think again. Unclench your toddler's sweaty palm and you may still uncover the remnants of a reformed meat nugget, high in fat, salt and additives that are now banished from school lunches for older children.

Our youngest children are the most vulnerable to the effects of poor diet. Children's eating habits are formed at a young age so the food they eat at nursery has a far-reaching effect on their food choices and physical health. Almost one in four children start school already overweight or obese, meaning they are more likely to suffer from serious health problems such as heart disease and cancer later in life, yet there are no clear rules for the food that nurseries can serve.

Last week, the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) announced that it has asked the School Food Trust to review the rules for nursery food. The SFT was responsible for putting in place the standards for school lunch that have seen such great improvement in the quality of food served to older children, and evidence is growing of improved pupil wellbeing, better behaviour and increased ability to learn. The trust must now follow the recommendations of our better nursery food campaign and put in place compulsory standards for meals served in all nurseries, to make sure every child gets the start in life they deserve.

The Soil Association's 2008 report was the first detailed investigation into the state of food fed to young children attending nurseries in England and Wales. It found wide variety in the quality of food served in early years daycare. Despite the lack of authoritative guidance, many nurseries do their best to serve good food, but most fall short of serving important food such as oily fish while processed foods high in salt, fat, sugar and artificial additives that are banned in schools are still on offer in nurseries.

More than four out of five nurseries in England and Wales are privately run, where parents pay on average £35 a day for childcare, yet the report found some nurseries spending as little as 25p on ingredients for a child's food. And there are no rules to stop them.

Over a year ago we asked the DCSF to put the SFT in charge of standards for nursery food, to make sure nutrition and cookery training was available for nurseries' catering and care staff, and to improve the inspection of nursery food.

Parents agree. In a survey published today on online parenting network Mumsnet, 1,000 parents with children at nursery have told us they want sweets, chocolate and chips, which are banned or restricted in schools, also banned in nurseries; additives that are linked to behavioural problems banned in nurseries; and compulsory nutrition training for nursery cooks.

To parents everywhere: the government is listening. Now is the time to speak up and tell it that we need better nursery food, for the lasting health and wellbeing of the next generation.