Children's Nutrition Action Plan - The Food Commission

Imogen Sharp
Department of Health
Current Department of Health nutrition initiatives include:
• Review of the welfare foods programme;
• Increase support for breastfeeding with a particular focus on low-income groups;
• National School Fruit Scheme – which has already provided free fruit on a regular basis
to 80,000 children;
• Five-a-day programme to increase consumption through local initiatives;
• Work with industry to improve fruit and vegetable promotion and improve the overall
balance of diet including reductions in salt, fat and sugar;
• Local action to tackle obesity and physical inactivity.
Overview of existing Government policies on children and food in schools
(1) Breakfast clubs
During 1999 – 2001 the Department of Health funded a number of pilot breakfast clubs. Each
of the 8 NHS Regions received £100,000 per year to provide start up and running costs for
breakfast clubs in their regions. The number of clubs varied per region but throughout
England over 230 clubs received funding from the project. Most of the schools involved were
in deprived areas.
Evaluation of the pilots is being carried out by the University of East Anglia. The interim
report (May 2000) reported on some initial benefits of breakfast provision in schools, which
included:
• Improved concentration in morning classes;
• Speedier integration of pupils into the school day;
• Benefits for individual children who may have behavioural problems or need to care and
feed themselves or other siblings;
• Improved social skills;
• Improved interaction across year groups;
• Improved social contact between staff and pupils leading to better relationship.
(2) School Lunches
The Government considers it important that children should be able to have a healthy school
meal. The DfES introduced minimum nutritional standards for school lunches – the first for
over twenty years – with effect from 1 April 2001. A new duty to provide paid meals will
ensure that LEAs and/or schools will continue, or in some cases restart, the provision of
school lunches. LEAs or schools with delegated budgets for the provision of school meals are
responsible for ensuring that the standards are met. LEAs are free to specify their own
standards so long as they exceed the national standards.
The nutritional standards are expressed in terms of the five food groups (as in the 'Balance of
Good Health'). They specify the types and frequency of food that should be available at the
school lunch. The majority of respondents to the consultation favoured food based nutritional
standards rather than nutrient based standards. Nutrient-based standards would not be
The Children’s Nutrition Action Plan, published by The Food Commission
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