OLIVER’S OWN GOAL?
Warning that healthy eating drive will hit school meals

The Local Authority Caterers Association (Laca) warned last week that strict rules governing school meals inspired by Jamie Oliver’s healthy-eating campaign could drive children to buy junk food. According to the association, the new guidelines — which have 14 separate nutrition targets – are so complex that schools will be able to comply only by offering a single two-course meal to pupils used to an extensive buffet selection. Neil Porter, the Laca chairman, said: “Students will buy food from the high street that is far less nutritious than the options that would, in many instances, have been available in school.” Its survey found that 80% of secondary schools expected a drop in children eating school meals when the new rules are introduced in September.

FEED ME BETTER
Scheme shown to improve test results

Oliver launched the national Feed Me Better campaign to improve school meals in 2005 after working in a south London school kitchen for the television programme Jamie’s School Dinners. It resulted in a 270,000-signature petition being delivered to Downing Street and Tony Blair, then prime minister, announcing a £280m increase in funding for meals. Research from the Institute for Social & Economic Research found that pupils aged 11 in Greenwich, the borough where Oliver delivered healthier meals, achieved better exam results. Scores for key stage 2 science exams improved by 8% and English by 6% after just one year. There was also a 15% drop in sick leave among pupils.

KEEPING KIDS IN
Proposals to restrict lunch freedom of children

Critics say Laca is putting the business interests of its membership above the health of pupils. Hazel Green from the association acknowledged that the nutritional guidelines would drive up the cost of providing school meals, squeezing the margins of some of its private sector members. “If children go elsewhere, some school catering will become unviable and will close,” she said. However, last year Kevin Brennan, then children’s minister, proposed forcing under16s to stay on school premises at lunchtime, giving them no option but to have school meals. Ed Balls, the schools secretary, has also called for a ban on takeaways opening near schools; the London borough of Waltham Forest said in October it would enact such a policy.

LONG-TERM PROBLEM
Ministers see obesity as the main health issue

The government is unlikely to back down from its fight against obesity. Dawn Primarolo, the public health minister, has described it as “the biggest health challenge we face”. The latest figures show that 17% of children aged between two and 10 in England are classified as obese. Obesity now costs the NHS about £1 billion a year and the UK economy a further £2.3 billion in indirect costs. While school meal rates may drop off initially, in the long term the benefits of the policy will be felt. Some campaigners urge more radical measures. Tam Fry of the National Obesity Forum said: “The government has to start focusing on pre-school children and even [the effects of diet on] pregnancy and breastfeeding.”

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