You wouldn’t want an Easter without chocolate – but over the bank holiday your children could be swallowing almost 1,500 calories in one treat.

And the average child will receive a whopping 17,700 calories worth of chocolate this Easter, according to research by Wren Kitchens.

A large (190g) Cadbury’s Creme Egg Easter Egg, containing a chocolate shell and two Creme Eggs, had a colossal 1,414 calories, 73.2g of fat and 165g of sugar.

Meanwhile, a small (77g) Cadbury’s Eggheads Easter Egg contained 407 calories, 23g of fat and 43g of sugar.

To put this in context a four to eight year old’s recommended daily allowance is around 1,300 calories and should contain less than 20g of sugar and less than 20g of saturated fat.

Registered nutritionist Charlotte Stirling-Reed said about the findings: “These figures are quite alarming and it’s easy to see how the numbers can easily add up over an Easter weekend.

“Additionally, if we were to combine these figures with those from other occasions when children are likely to overindulge (Christmas, birthdays, parties, holidays, weekends) you can see how it may become less of a treat and more or a regular occurrence.”

There’s a big difference between a treat and a stomach ache and an expanding waistline.

So we reveal the shocking calorie, fat and sugar content of some popular Easter treats and some healthier but nonetheless delicious alternatives.

The Fat Pack

The 190g version of this Cadbury's Creme Egg contains a whopping 1,414 calories
The 190g version of this Cadbury's Creme Egg contains a whopping 1,414 calories

These popular Easter products are best consumed in moderation.

Item Calories (kcal) Fat (g) Sugar (g)
Cadbury’s Creme Egg Easter Egg, large (190g) (contains a chocolate shell and 2 Creme Eggs) 1414 73.2 165
Cadbury Mini Eggs Easter Egg, medium (149g) – (contains a chocolate shell and bag of Mini Eggs) 685 37.2 78
Lindt Gold Bunny (100g) 550 33 55
Cadbury Mini Eggs (90g bag) 444 19.2 61.5
Kinder Mini Eggs (75g) 435 28.5 39
Cadbury Eggheads Easter Egg, Small (77g) 407 23 43
Cadbury Creme Egg (40g) 177 6.1 26.5

Slim Pickings

Green and Black's Organic Dark 70% Easter Egg
Green and Black's Organic Dark 70% Easter Egg

If you’re worried about consuming too much sugar over Easter, Green & Black’s eggs are a good choice.

The upmarket chocolatier’s organic dark 70% chocolate egg has 28.5g of sugar per 100g – by far the lowest of any of the eggs we looked at.

But remember this is all relative; there's no such thing as 'healthy' chocolate egg. Plus the amount of fat tends to increase as the sugar content decreases.

Rank (by lowest sugar content) Item Saturated Fat (grams per 100g) Sugar (grams per 100g)
1 Green & Black's organic dark 70% chocolate egg (165g) 25 28.5
2 Green & Black's organic milk chocolate egg (165g) 21.5 45.5
3 Green & Black's organic butterscotch egg (165g) 20.5 47.5
4 Waitrose Woodland Friends Ollie the Owl 21.8 50.2
5 Lindt Gold Bunny Egg Milk Chocolate 125g 22 51

Sugar Rush

These eggs have the greatest amount of sugar per 100g of product.

If your children eat one of these in one sitting they may be bouncing off the walls. You have been warned.

Rank (by highest sugar content) Item Saturated Fat (grams per 100g) Sugar (grams per 100g)
1) Smarties Medium Egg (122g) 16.4 61.7
2) Nèstlè Kit Kat Chunky Egg (140g) 17.5 61.2
3) Nestle Kit Kat Bites Easter Egg And Chocolate (245g) 17.5 61.2
4) Nestle Quality Street Honeycomb Crunch Easter Egg (162g) 17 60.1