Concerns raised about children’s food choices
A new report from the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has raised concerns that children are not putting healthy eating messages into practise.
The report, School Meals in Secondary Schools in England, found that whilst 91 per cent of schools provided vegetables or fruit on most days, only six per cent of pupils chose a vegetable or salad option.
Tom Murray, head of nutrition at the FSA warned that: “Even when the food on offer at lunchtimes meets nutritional standards, children are still choosing meals high in fat, sugar and salt. The Agency will be working with the DfES and others involved in the provision of food in schools, including parents and governors, to ensure that standards of school meals are addressed within a whole school approach aimed at improving the diets of children.”
The Government is highlighting the improvement in the provision of healthy food, but admits, “more must be done to encourage healthy eating.”
Schools Minister Stephen Twigg said: “The direction of travel in which the Government is moving to increase healthy option choices at school mealtimes and to address the wider issues around the health of our young people is the right one.
“We recognise the importance of young people having the necessary food-related knowledge and practical skills to develop healthy eating habits by the time they leave school. We are working with schools to encourage them to develop whole school food policies. Today’s reports will help to inform our ongoing work in this area and will provide a significant contribution to the development of the Healthy Living Blueprint.”
The Government is due to publish later in the year its Healthy Living Blueprint, a “clear statement of things that schools can do to encourage their pupils to adopt healthy lifestyles.”
Key areas are set to be ensuring the curriculum reflects and develops healthy eating messages and working with parents to ensure that the messages are replicated at home.
Around three quarters of the adult population are now believed to be overweight, with around 22 per cent obesity. With frequent warnings that obesity is a “time bomb” for the UK, improving nutrition and food choices in school is seen as a priority by the Government.
