In 2005, Jamie Oliver had a well-publicised campaign to point out the disgraceful state of school food in this country. Having banned our kids from their school canteen when we found out that a typical meal was pizza, beans and chips followed by a sticky bun, I thought his campaign was most welcome.
Since then school dinners have been reformed with requirements to use fresh ingredients and less fried food. So far so good, but our privatised school food sector of course has pathetic budgets to work from. It is also not reasonable to expect schools to change the bad eating habits of a generation without targetting the parents too. That was illustrated by two Rotherham mothers in 2006 who instituted a "junk food run" to feed 60 children their lunches from local takeaways.
It is perhaps not surprising that a report today shows that children want to eat chips and that uptake of school food is dropping. This is despite children being far more aware of what is healthy or unhealth.
However much the government tries to use schools as a means of influencing social attitudes it is pretty pointless reforming school food without addressing parents. How is a child - used to lots of chips and junk food at home - going to choose lower fat, lower sugar, lower salt healthier options at school? If parents supply their little ones with sugary fizzy drinks, crisps and sweet snacks to take to school aren't they going to lose their appetite?· Three of the primary schools visited reported that younger pupils could not manage a knife and fork
· Some schools misunderstood the "five-a-day" fruit and veg recommendations and included potatoes
· One teenager told inspectors that he had become far fitter as a result of regular walks to a nearby chip shop
· Pupils snacked on fizzy drinks and sweets on the way to schools
· At one secondary school counsellors were brought in to help a group of high-performing year 10 girls who smoked and were involved in substance abuse, and were skipping meals in an attempt to lose weight
· Pupils frequently said that the portions were small and left them still feeling hungry
We will only have healthier eating among children if parents make healthier choices.
...oh well!!
2007-10-03 @ 09:51