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Diana Johnson: First ever national statistics to measure school food take-up
09 July 2009Schools Minister, Diana Johnson, today welcomed new figures showing millions of children are now eating healthier school lunches. These new figures, published by the School Food Trust, give for the first time a comprehensive picture of school meal take-up across the country. Following a new requirement, announced earlier this year for all local authorities to report take-up of school meals, LAs must now report all school meal take up, including school meal services that are contracted out. Figures from this year will now be comparable across the country and in future years to help gain a true picture of the number of pupils eating a healthy meal at school. The figures show that out of 150 LAs, take-up of school lunches is: 39.3 percent of pupils at primary and special schools 35.1 percent of pupils at secondary schools, academies and city technology colleges.The new national indicator, now used to measure school lunch take-up, means that the overall figures are not comparable with previous years’ findings. However, last year 80 out of 150 LAs provided data for primary and secondary schools using the new methodology. It has therefore been possible to make a comparison using these LAs. This data reveals that there has been a small increase in the take-up of school meals, which is a significant step in the right direction after a massive culture change in school food. This is the first time that there has been an increase at secondary level since the new standards for school food were introduced and shows that we have now turned the corner. Diana Johnson said:“Four years ago, the majority of children were eating unhealthy meals at school. Chips, chocolate and sugar-filled fizzy drinks were available everyday as a choice for school lunch. Today there is no school where this can now happen - all schools must provide a portion of vegetable and fruit as part of a nutritionally balanced main meal. Now millions of children across the country are eating healthy school lunches. “We have introduced a new way of collecting these figures because we want a more robust and comprehensive way of measuring the healthy eating of children at school. With this new data we can pinpoint areas where take-up is low and work with most LAs to help them get more children eating healthy school lunches. “We know that it is often the state of dining facilities and poor organisation, not nutritional changes that put children off schools dinners. That is why we have invested significant funds in improving dining facilities and the School Food Trust is supporting schools to improve the way they organise their meals services. “Many schools have provided great examples of how to entice children into the canteen. By refurbishing kitchens, making dining areas more inviting and even starting cooking clubs, where children can learn how to prepare healthy and delicious food, primary and secondary schools have seen an increase in pupils eating school lunches.” Today’s figures were published as a new report by the School Food Trust reveals the link between school lunches and learning behaviour in secondary schools. The report, and previous similar research in primary schools, finds that improving the nutritional quality of school food, as well as the dining environment, improves pupil engagement and concentration after lunch - by 18 percent in secondary school pupils.Healthy eating should not be confined to the school canteen either. Children should be encouraged to take home what they learn in school about nutrition and a balanced diet. That is why we have published two cookbooks written specifically for children and young people. The first ‘Real Meals’ cookbook, launched in September 2008 became hugely popular with children and parents. So far there have been 160,000 downloads of the recipes and almost 450,000 hard copies have been distributed to secondary schools. The second cookbook, 'Simple cooking - cold food that tastes great', was released last month. It will help children enjoy healthy food this summer whilst away from the classroom. Editor's Notes
This press notice relates to 'England'
1. The figures can be found at: http://www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk/documents/NI52statisticalrelease2008-2009 2. Ensuring children across England get healthy, nutritionally balanced school meals each day is a key part of the Government’s drive to reverse childhood obesity levels and ensure children remain healthy and active. With the national baseline that these new statistics provide, we will now be able to measure take-up across schools in England. 3. For media enquiries only please contact the Department for Children, Schools and Families newsdesk on 020 7925 6789. Contact Details
Public Enquiries 0870 000 2288, info@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk
Press Notice 2009/0132
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