Peace_Hope
05-20-2006, 09:18 AM
Junk food ban planned for schools
Press Association
Friday May 19, 2006 8:43 PM
Education Secretary Alan Johnson has pledged to stop feeding children "rubbish" for school dinners.
Launching new rules designed to ban junk food from schools, Mr Johnson admitted that school meals had suffered from "decades of under-investment".
The guidelines mark a triumph for the campaign by TV chef Jamie Oliver to bring healthy eating to schools amid growing concern over childhood obesity. Pupils will be limited to two portions of chips a week and served at least two portions of fruit and vegetables with every meal.
However headteachers warned that pupils would simply get round the requirements by bringing in junk food from outside the school.
John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said that a far more concerted effort was needed to tackle the issue of obesity in children.
"The problem of obesity among young people cannot be solved by the paltry £2,000 of additional funding going to secondary schools after the over-hyped Jamie Oliver initiative," he said.
"At the end of the day, schools can offer two portions of fruit and veg with every meal, but there is no requirement for students to eat it. They can still bring in a packed lunch full of crisps and junk food from home. The only way to reverse the obesity trend is through the food industry and through the education of both parents and students."
Mr Johnson, however, insisted that the new meals would prove popular providing they were "more attractive and healthier", and that children and parents were educated about the benefits of better nutrition. He rejected suggestions that schools would struggle to find contractors to provide the new healthier meals.
"If you put the investment in, which we're doing, if you insist on the quality and you insist that our kids can no longer be given the kind of rubbish that they have been given for decades, you will find the contractors," he said.
From September 2008, primary schools will be required to abide by nutrient-based standards which set out the essential vitamins and minerals children should receive. Secondary schools will follow a year later.
© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2006, All Rights Reserved
Press Association
Friday May 19, 2006 8:43 PM
Education Secretary Alan Johnson has pledged to stop feeding children "rubbish" for school dinners.
Launching new rules designed to ban junk food from schools, Mr Johnson admitted that school meals had suffered from "decades of under-investment".
The guidelines mark a triumph for the campaign by TV chef Jamie Oliver to bring healthy eating to schools amid growing concern over childhood obesity. Pupils will be limited to two portions of chips a week and served at least two portions of fruit and vegetables with every meal.
However headteachers warned that pupils would simply get round the requirements by bringing in junk food from outside the school.
John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said that a far more concerted effort was needed to tackle the issue of obesity in children.
"The problem of obesity among young people cannot be solved by the paltry £2,000 of additional funding going to secondary schools after the over-hyped Jamie Oliver initiative," he said.
"At the end of the day, schools can offer two portions of fruit and veg with every meal, but there is no requirement for students to eat it. They can still bring in a packed lunch full of crisps and junk food from home. The only way to reverse the obesity trend is through the food industry and through the education of both parents and students."
Mr Johnson, however, insisted that the new meals would prove popular providing they were "more attractive and healthier", and that children and parents were educated about the benefits of better nutrition. He rejected suggestions that schools would struggle to find contractors to provide the new healthier meals.
"If you put the investment in, which we're doing, if you insist on the quality and you insist that our kids can no longer be given the kind of rubbish that they have been given for decades, you will find the contractors," he said.
From September 2008, primary schools will be required to abide by nutrient-based standards which set out the essential vitamins and minerals children should receive. Secondary schools will follow a year later.
© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2006, All Rights Reserved