SCHOOLS & ACADEMIES SHOW PREVIEW
Mission Nutrition: Empowering Children with Lifelong Healthy Habits A
t apetito, two of our core values are ‘Great food to be proud of’ and ‘Enhancing health and wellbeing’. Whilst providing schools with high-quality, nutritious meals, packed full of healthy ingredients that broaden pupils’ horizons is at the heart of what we do, we see our responsibility to schools as going further than that. Children spend a considerable amount of their time at school, which makes it the ideal place for them to learn about nutrition and foster healthy food habits, which can last a lifetime.
As a company with immense in-house nutritional and dietetic expertise, we are passionate about supporting schools to effectively educate their pupils on the benefits of a healthy diet.
To do this, we are launching a suite of lesson plans titled ‘Mission Nutrition’. The first in the series are set of Key Stage Two Lesson plans, which are now available for all schools partnering with apetito. All the lesson plans have been created by apetito’s in-house Dietitians, Chefs and Nutritionists with the aim of creating educational content in line with the national curriculum that support teachers when delivering lessons on food and nutrition. More lesson plans will be launched in 2026 to further develop pupils’ food education.
Why Mission Nutrition Matters
Educating children on the benefits of a healthy and sustainable diet has never been so important. Childhood obesity is a significant health issue, and it is estimated that today in England, one in three children will be obese or overweight when they finish primary school [1]. Obesity can have serious implications for a child’s physical and mental health. Overweight and obese children are more likely to stay obese into adulthood and develop health issues like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases at a younger age [2].
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www.education-today.co.uk
While receiving good nutrition in childhood is essential for a strong start in life, it alone is not enough. To truly empower children to lead healthy lives, they must be educated about the vital role food and nutrition play in their overall wellbeing.
In England, teaching pupils about cooking and nutrition forms part of the curriculum for Key Stages 1-3. Food education similarly falls within the national curriculum for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. However, despite this, studies show that there are significant disparities between schools in the number of hours of food and nutrition lessons that pupils actually receive [4]. One of the main factors contributing to these differences was found to be a lack of adequate support and resources for teachers. Inconsistent approaches to food education can have a real impact on pupils’ food and nutrition knowledge. A survey by the British Nutrition Foundation in 2022 found that 24% of primary- age pupils thought that chicken counted towards the 5-a-day fruit and vegetable target and 19% of 7-11-year-olds thought the same about cheese [5].
In an attempt to provide pupils with a better and more rounded food education, many schools are taking a whole-school approach when it comes to teaching their pupils about food and nutrition education. When done effectively healthy eating is promoted and integrated into everyday school life. As well as teaching them in the classroom, school catering plays an important role in educating children about nutritious food. Schools should be offering a variety of flavours and meal choices, all underpinned by the guidelines set in the School Food Standards.
November 2025
The figures regarding the high levels of childhood obesity show no sign of declining, demonstrating that too many children are not eating a healthy, balanced diet, and in fact, experience a food environment that pushes them towards unhealthy cheap food with limited nutritional benefits.
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