eNews Briefing button

Raising nutritional standards in schools is 20 years overdue

10 February 2005

The National Heart Forum (NHF), Caroline Walker Trust (CWT) and the Health Education Trust (HET) welcome today's announcement by the Department for Education and Skills on raising the nutritional standards of school meals, which is twenty years overdue.

Paul Lincoln, chief executive of the National Heart Forum says: "The NHF and CWT welcome the introduction of interim processed food standards as the current DFES food standards for school meals have been found wanting in the Governments own reviews, so immediate action is needed if the Government is to meet its ambitious health goals for children, such reducing the year-on-year increase in obesity for children under age 11 by 2010 and reaching the health inequalities targets."

The NHF, CWT and HET also welcome the long overdue inclusion of meals in OFSTED inspections of schools, as healthy food is essential for learning and development and this action will raise the priority of school meals on head teachers' and governing body agendas.

We would also like to see 'lunchtime supervisors' trained in a healthy eating vocational qualification, in addition to the one suggested for school caterers, as they have a vital frontline role.

The health policy significance of school food is vastly underappreciated. For one third of children the school meal is the only nutritious meal of the day.  We are very concerned about the wider policy issues for school food, such as setting minimum standards for how much a healthy school meal should cost. There are enormous cost variations across the country and between schools.

National Heart Forum is also campaigning for greater encouragement for uptake of free school meals in un-stigmatising ways and support for schools to have the equipment to cook meals on site from fresh ingredients. It is time for this to be reintroduced after the removal of this duty and school meal standards in the 1980 Education Act and the real value of a free school meal has dropped considerably in recent years.

England needs to follow the example of Scotland, which leads the way within the UK with its school food plans.

Joe Harvey, Chair of the Caroline Walker Trust and Director of the Health Education Trust says: "Fundamentally we need to establish a pride in school food that is nutritious, appetising and increase the uptake, especially amongst those who need it most. This will require a substantial increase in investment in the school meals service if the quality is to improve.'

The National Heart Forum and Caroline Walker Trust have established an independent expert group on childhood nutrition to define school food nutrient based standards, building on the ground breaking Caroline Walker School Meal nutritional guidelines first published in 1993. These standards are regarded as the 'gold standard' for schools and should form the basis of the new Government standards.

The Health Education Trust supports this work and is also campaigning vigorously for a revision of the core curriculum in all schools to include food preparation and  cooking skills. The NHF, CWT  and HET would thus welcome close involvement with the newly announced independent school food trust.

Press Contacts

Please see our Press Office for contact details.

Notes to editors

  1. See Young at heart: Towards a generation free from coronary heart disease
  2. Caroline Walker Trust School Meal Guidelines: please visit their website http://www.cwt.org.uk/