As a mum, a registered nutritionist and former schoolteacher, you may imagine where my focus has been in the past few months, during school closures and schools returning. Although, I felt blessed that my girls were home and safe, and we could enjoy time together, with enough food. My daily thoughts did include a darkness, thinking of those teenagers I knew who would not be having a nourishing, happy family life during the lockdown.
In the past two years of my PhD studies, I have discovered that political change, how well policy is implemented and willingness and capacity of headteachers to prioritise healthy food, all have a bearing on how successful school food is provided. In short: school food is a really important factor in the quality of a young person’s diet.
The pandemic is highlighting inequities and raising awareness of school lunches
Over the summer a coalition of organisations formed to tackle food poverty as part of the national food strategy [1,2]. Premier league footballer Marcus Rashford shared his own childhood experiences at the forefront of a campaign calling for free school meals to food insecure children. During the UK lockdown five million families were reported to be experiencing food scarcity, hunger and or issues with accessing enough food, with 3.2 million – that’s 11% of households! – suffering food insecurity.
Parents and young people in the UK have expressed their agreement that healthier diet is more important than ever and would like to see positive change as a result of the pandemic [3,4]. And a significant number of parents want their children to not only learn about nutrition and develop cooking skills in school, but also to have a healthy school lunch [2,3].
Back to school
As my daughter prepared to return to year 11, her school was providing regular updates on the changes they had made in adhering to the COVID-19 guidelines, it was clear that they were working hard to help pupils feel better about returning. Then, a menu came through – oh dear. My heart dropped as I saw three images on the page. A white bacon roll, a white bread sandwich and a pizza slice featured in colour…
The pandemic is highlighting inequities and raising awareness of school lunches
Over the summer a coalition of organisations formed to tackle food poverty as part of the national food strategy [1,2]. Premier league footballer Marcus Rashford shared his own childhood experiences at the forefront of a campaign calling for free school meals to food insecure children. During the UK lockdown five million families were reported to be experiencing food scarcity, hunger and or issues with accessing enough food, with 3.2 million – that’s 11% of households! – suffering food insecurity.
Parents and young people in the UK have expressed their agreement that healthier diet is more important than ever and would like to see positive change as a result of the pandemic [3,4]. And a significant number of parents want their children to not only learn about nutrition and develop cooking skills in school, but also to have a healthy school lunch [2,3].
As my daughter prepared to return to year 11, her school was providing regular updates on the changes they had made in adhering to the COVID-19 guidelines, it was clear that they were working hard to help pupils feel better about returning. Then, a menu came through – oh dear. My heart dropped as I saw three images on the page. A white bacon roll, a white bread sandwich and a pizza slice featured in colour…
Many children are choosing to take in a packed lunch, but given the evidence over the past decade, the nutritional value may be even more of a concern [5,6]. However, it is also often socially unacceptable to bring in food from home for older teens in years 10 and 11. My school contacts have raised concerns about providing the same food services that they did before COVID, including the logistical challenge of keeping year groups separate in addition to the high levels of hygiene required. This has led some schools to significantly reduce the time that pupils have to eat. These changes may be hampering the ability of schools to serve healthy foods.
Schools are absolutely an ideal environment to support and shape healthy habits for young people. But, are the expectations for schools to nourish young people, provide comprehensive health education, on top of the academic priorities too much especially in a global pandemic? With the restrictions of the COVID-19 regulations, how can nutrition remain a priority? And what about the existing national school food standards [7].
Is this a national issue?
I want to find out if my experience locally is mirrored nationally. As part of my PhD research I have developed a short questionnaire for students (16-18 year olds), parents of 11-18 year olds, and staff involved in education to complete.
Your help with this important investigation would be very much appreciated. Please complete the survey if you meet the criteria as below, or share with others.
- A young person (aged 16-18 years) attending secondary school or post 16 education in UK
- Parent of a young person (aged 11-18 years) who is attending secondary school or post 16 education in UK
- Staff employed in a secondary school or post 16 education in UK.
COMPLETE THE SURVEY HERE
References:
- National food strategy part 1 – Recommendations in full: https://www.nationalfoodstrategy.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/8_NFS_Report_RecommedationsInFull.pdf
- Sustain website: https://www.sustainweb.org/news/sep20-freeschoolmeals/
- Covid-19 and Children’s Food: Parents’ Priorities for Building Back Better: https://www.sustainweb.org/resources/files/reports/Childrens_Food_Covid19_Briefing.pdf
- Bite Back 2030:https://biteback2030.com/sites/default/files/2020-06/BB2030%20Covid-19%20Report%20V2%5B1%5D.pdf
- Spence, S., Delve, J., Stamp, E., Matthews, J.N., White, M. and Adamson, A.J., 2013. The impact of food and nutrient-based standards on primary school children’s lunch and total dietary intake: a natural experimental evaluation of government policy in England. PloS one, 8(10), p.e78298.
- Evans, C.E.L., Greenwood, D.C., Thomas, J.D. and Cade, J.E., 2010. A cross-sectional survey of children's packed lunches in the UK: food-and nutrient-based results. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 64(11), pp.977-983.
- The Independent School Food Plan website: http://www.schoolfoodplan.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment