DOZENS of fatty foods, fizzy drinks and puddings are to be banned from school menus by the government in an effort to tackle obesity.

Burgers, chicken nuggets and turkey shapes with more than 10% fat will be on a “blacklist” that aims to transform the eating habits of schoolchildren.

There will also be restrictions on chips, sticky puddings and ice cream. They will only be served once a week instead of three or four times as in many schools at present.

The cafeteria-style system currently used in many secondary schools will be phased out because it allows children to “pick and mix” to avoid healthy foods.

Schools will instead be required to provide complete menus, ensuring pupils receive a more balanced diet. So a typical secondary school lunch might include beef curry, brown rice and lentil dahl, followed by fruit salad and crème fraîche, washed down with milk.

Ruth Kelly, the education secretary, will announce the new nutritional standards at the Labour party conference later this month. They will be phased in this year and become compulsory by next autumn.

The guidelines have been agreed by the School Meals Review Panel set up by Kelly in response to a campaign by Jamie Oliver, the celebrity chef.

His television series, Jamie’s School Dinners, broadcast earlier this year, found that some local authorities were spending only 37p per child for lunch. He devised nutritious meals using a similar budget, replacing what he referred to as “crap” food.

Under popular pressure, the government said it would give an extra £220m directly to schools from this autumn so that an average 50p will be spent on ingredients for each meal in primary schools and 60p in secondaries.

School caterers will be told that children’s school meals should not include anything that has more than 10% fat in it. Burgers have up to 19% fat, chicken nuggets 17% and Turkey Twizzlers 21%. Also barred from the menus will be crisps, chocolate bars, fizzy drinks and biscuits.

Nutritionists recognise that children’s favourites such as chips and ice cream cannot be banned altogether, and to do so would simply drive pupils to outlets outside the school.

Along with fried potato shapes, fried meats and processed cheeses, they will be deemed “rare treats” which should be served only once a week. Schools will also be advised to make their chips “chunky” so they absorb less fat.

Schools will be given rules stating the minimum amount of carbohydrates and the maximum amount of fat an average meal should provide. They will be advised to buy fresh food from local outlets where possible.

Ofsted, the education watchdog, is to extend its remit from teaching standards to include inspecting the quality of school meals.

Neil Porter, of the Local Authority Caterers Association, said: “This will mean radical changes, but local authorities are already preparing for it. We have at least a year before it comes in..”

A member of the School Meals Review Panel said: “The standards the government have used so far have not worked. The new proposals will have clear nutritional guidelines on sugar, fat and salt in the diet, as well as vitamin and mineral content. Fatty processed foods just won’t get on the menus.”

A report earlier this year showed the number of children aged two to 10 who were overweight had increased from 23% in 1995 to 27% in 2003. There was also an increase in obese children over the same period from 10% to 14%.

Experts say that if the rates of obesity continue to rise, a third of girls and a fifth of boys will be obese by 2020.

Ministers have been impressed by early reports of improvements at schools that have adopted healthier menus. Teachers report children seem less disruptive in the classroom and there is less absenteeism.

The new guidelines will be based on nutritional standards developed by the Caroline Walker Trust, which campaigns for the improvement of public health by improvements in the quality of food.

It will be a huge task to transform schoolchildren’s diet. A study of 79 secondary schools published last year revealed that none of the schools met the nutritional guidelines of the Caroline Walker Trust.

Schools were most likely to fail because they did not provide enough iron — found in fruit and nuts — and too little pasta, which provides a steady source of energy.

The researchers found the most commonly served foods in schools are cakes and muffins, served on at least four days of the week in more than nine out of 10 schools. Chips and potatoes cooked in oil were served on at least four days in 76% of schools.

There will be pressure on Kelly to find more money to ensure schools have the resources to make significant improvements.

Prince Charles, meanwhile, has taken a keen interest in changing the diet of children, that has impressed Oliver. Last year he teamed up with the Soil Association and Business in the Community to produce a handbook showing how children’s food can be improved by using the produce of local farmers.

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