FParents urged to consider school meals

Citation

(2011), "FParents urged to consider school meals", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 41 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/nfs.2011.01741aab.009

FParents urged to consider school meals

Article Type: Food facts From: Nutrition & Food Science, Volume 41, Issue 1

Parents could spend almost eight days a year making packed lunches for their children if they want them to meet the same healthy standards as school meals. Figures from the School Food Trust – the organisation responsible for the transformation of school food and food skills – estimate parents who want to make packed lunches which meet the same nutritional standards as healthy school meals could put in between 50 and 190 hours of total preparation time across the school year.

Since the introduction of standards in schools the average meal is designed to provide children with the energy and nutrients they need – about a third of their daily intake. The national, mandatory standards for school food include making sure that a portion of fruit and a portion of vegetables or salad is available for every pupil eating school meals every day. Foods such as meat products and starchy foods cooked in fat or oil are restricted, and foods such as crisps, confectionary and sweetened drinks are no longer provided.