FEATURE FOCUS: TACKLING CHILDHOOD OBESITY


with taster pots on offer, reflecting some of the many dishes available. The colours, texture and of course taste can be appreciated first-hand. Sessions typically form part of Parents & Carers


Consultation Days, Learning Together Days and Infant Intake Sessions. Feedback is always welcome, and often includes a reassuring approval of the food and an appreciation of the importance of both the informal social time together, as well the food itself. It should go without saying that a nutritionally balanced school lunch needs to be appetising and


course of a year. Furthermore, a Children's Food Trust study has


shown that children in primary schools are three times more likely to concentrate in the classroom following improvements to school meals and the dining room.


Worrying trends Sandwell is a deprived borough in the Black Country, where the obesity figures are above the national average. Figures for 2019/20 from the National Child


Measurement Programme (NCMP), which measures the height and weight of children in reception class (aged 4 to 5) and year 6, show that 12.8% of reception age children in Sandwell are classed as obese or severely obese – making it fourth highest in the West Midlands (behind Stoke, Wolverhampton and Walsall). The national average for England is 9.9%. For Year 6 pupils, the figure is 28.5%, putting Sandwell second in the table, with only Walsall above it. The average for England in this age group is 21%. There is a clear link with obesity and socio-


economic deprivation. Advertising of HFSS (high in fat, sugar and salt)


products on TV (which the government aims to ban being broadcast before 9pm by the end of 2022); the lure of fast food and discounted stores; and processed, pre-packaged foods – these are all factors to tackle in the fight against obesity. Add into the mix the pandemic – which has


seen adults and children alike ‘fall off the wagon’ and put on weight through bad diet and lack of exercise - and we have our hands full.


Joining the fight So, what are schools and catering providers doing to combat this, and how can we work with parents and students to turn the tide? At SIPS, all of our meals and menus follow the


School Food Plan (www.schoolfoodplan.com). Published in 2013, it set out 17 actions to transform what children eat in schools and, importantly, how they learn about food.


April 2021


These actions include:


• Kick-start increased take-up of good school food


• Put cooking into the curriculum: make cooking and food an entitlement in Key Stages 1 to 3 • Set up financially self-sufficient breakfast clubs


• Include food and nutrition in headteacher training • Improve the image of school food


Pandemic problems We’ve also been working hard during the pandemic to ensure that those most at risk – low income families – haven’t suffered from the absence of free school meals. When the government made the decision last


year to close schools to children other than those of key workers and the vulnerable, an options appraisal was undertaken by our catering service, looking at the provision to ensure consistency and quality, within budget, which would ensure children received a nutritious meal every day. We communicated regularly with schools and


agreed that the most sustainable option would be to provide a logistically simpler and safer to present, packed lunch option - delivered directly to schools, twice a week, so that they could be distributed to families who were entitled to a free school meal. 92% of our catering members took up this option and over a period of 17 weeks, 66,560 packed lunches were delivered to our schools. When staff and pupils are back in school, a


natural question from parents, grandparents and carers is ‘what’s on the menu?’ and ‘what does the food actually taste like?’. We’re proud of our healthy and consistent


offerings, and have created a ‘Showcase Counter’ - the chance for adults to experience a taster of what their children enjoy. Food samples are presented authentically, as they are at lunchtime,


www.education-today.co.uk 27


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