Education Business

With the new nutrient-based standards becoming law this year, primary school children across England are now benefiting from a nutritional lunchtime experience as turkey twizzlers become all but a distant memory. The nutrient standards build on the changes that have taken place since the revolution in school food began in 2005, which saw foods that were high in salt, sugar and fat removed or restricted on school menus. They represent the final and most integral piece of the primary school jigsaw with secondary schools following suit in September 2009.

Food for health and wellbeing
With child obesity levels rising at rapid rates and free school meals offering the only substantial meal of the day for some children, it is vital that the food on offer in schools enhances children’s health, wellbeing and potential. The nutrient standards will help do this by increasing the vitamin and mineral content and decreasing the fat, sugar and salt in food that is served up in dining halls all over the country.
    
The standards will also specify the maximum (fat, saturated fat, sugar, salt) and the minimum (carbohydrate, protein, fibre, vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, calcium, iron, zinc) nutrient value of an average school lunch. This does not mean ‘out with the old favourites’ but it does mean that a school menu cycle will need to be developed with the right balance of foods to ensure the standards are met.
    
To assist schools in meeting these standards, the Trust carried out three pilots in primary schools across England. Working closely with all the schools, using a whole school approach, this meant engaging with a number of key and influential stakeholders such as the head teacher, the parent, the pupil, the school cook, the lunchtime supervisor and the catering providers. It is very important that the whole school community gets involved in the healthy eating agenda in order for the implementation of the nutrient standards to be a success in their school. These pilots are now case studies available on the Trust’s website and will help other schools embarking on the same journey.

A shining example
One school that the Trust worked closely with was George Dixon Primary in Birmingham where the school lunches were supplied by outside catering company Cityserve. As part of their commitment to meeting the standards, they employed a freelance dietician who was responsible for analysing the menus and providing nutritional advice to schools.
    
Cityserve was also keen to promote school lunches and enhance the training and qualifications of the school cooks. When trying to implement the nutrient standards, the biggest hurdle for this particular school was that it had a large ethnically diverse pupil profile and a continually changing mix of cultural backgrounds. It was therefore a difficult task to make sure all pupils could eat what was on the menu.
    
They were, for example, not able to include beef on the menu, which is a good source of iron for children, but after some careful planning and nutrient analysis it was decided to increase the range of recipes containing lentils, a good source of iron and a relatively inexpensive one. Since the pilot scheme finished, the cook at George Dixon has been researching Somali recipes to reflect the increased numbers of Somali pupils attending the school.

Increase in meal take-up
It is now the job of the Trust to build upon the increases in take-up to ensure as many children as possible are eating, enjoying and benefiting from the healthy school lunches that are now on offer. Average take-up of school meals across English schools has hovered around the mid to low 40s since the late 1980s and in the last decade it is only known that take-up increased once, in 2004, the year before the Jamie Oliver’s School Dinners programme led to the introduction of new food based standards in England.
    
In July, however, provisional findings from the third annual take-up survey of school meals have shown that there has been a rise in the number of primary school children eating school meals. These figures were released in partnership with LACA (Local Authority Caterers’ Association) and the results showed a 2.3 percentage point increase in take-up amongst primary school pupils. This means 88,000 more school meals were served up in primary schools across the country. This is the first rise in take up since healthier school meals were put on the menu and mark a momentous moment in the healthy eating agenda.
    
In secondary schools, however, the figures suggest the picture is more complicated. We know that unhealthy eating habits can be more ingrained amongst teenagers and many still need a nudge in the right direction when it comes to trying healthy food. There are also issues with rising food costs putting an extra strain on the service.
    
Recent figures, however, show that secondary schools have actually managed to stem the decline with only a 0.5 percentage point drop since the same time last year. This equates to roughly 50,000 extra pupils per day eating school lunches overall compared to the previous year and we are hopeful there will be an even better picture next year.
    
Million Meals campaign
To ensure that take-up of school meals continues to increase it is vital that everyone works together to address the challenges of encouraging young people to eat more healthily. Part of this process has to be gaining closer working partnerships with head teachers to adopt a whole school policy.
    
In October last year we launched the Million Meals campaign to do just this. This campaign is focused on increasing the numbers of children eating school meals by helping schools make the changes that experience has shown us can make a big difference to the take up of school meals.
    
Most recently the Trust has published a guide for introducing a Stay on Site Policy in Million Meals schools. From experience of working with schools, many that have adopted a stay-on-site policy have seen a vast number of improvements when it comes to the health and wellbeing of their pupils. However, this is not something, understandably, that all schools will want to embark upon and there are a range of other resources available such as visits to successful schools, case studies and information packs, amongst many others, to help make a success of the campaign.
    
Currently there are a total of 3,521 schools signed up to the Million Meals Campaign and the number is always increasing. These schools not only get access to a panel of experts and champions who will be able to give insights into how they have transformed their meal service but they will also be given a range of resources that will help their school meet its own take up target. That’s why we’re inviting all those working in the provision, promotion and procurement of healthy school lunches to children and young people to support Million Meals schools.

Working together
Working with us at the School Food Trust to increase school meal take-up is everyone’s business. Only by working together and in partnership can we increase interest in school food and healthy eating, truly recognise its importance as part of a whole school approach to changing eating habits and tackling obesity, and ensure that a million more children have access to a healthy school meal by the end of 2010.
    
So if you have a role to play make sure you sign up, by becoming a partner or supporter of the campaign. All we ask is that you help promote the campaign in your area and encourage your schools to sign up. You will receive an information pack showing how you can assist schools to improve the health, wellbeing, educational attainment and behaviour of children.

For more information
To find out what you can do to make a difference, sign up as a partner today at: www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk/millionmeals