enhancing food security and physical activity for maori, pacific and ...

Enhancing Food Security and Physical Activity for Māori, Pacific and Low-income Peoplesinform further debate on the merits of such a scheme. A fruit provision scheme doesnot challenge the established patterns of responsibility for children’s diets in the sameway a breakfast or lunch programme does, as it is designed to supplement, notreplace. The cost of a fruit provision scheme will also be less than breakfast or lunchprovision. It is possible, however, that a fruit provision scheme will have less impacton household or child food insecurity than a breakfast or lunch provision scheme, forthe reason that it is not replacing the requirement for households to purchase food forchildren to eat at school. For children who are hungry at school, a fruit in schoolsscheme is less likely to provide adequate energy to address hunger, compared withbreakfast or lunch programmes.School breakfast programmes also received some level of support from interviewparticipants. It is likely that the intervention logic of providing school breakfastprogrammes will be enhanced if consideration is given to a wide range of issues,rather than just food security. For example, several participants mentioned thedifficulty parents may face in managing breakfast provision and before-school care,with work commitments. Developing breakfast programmes that are as much aboutbefore-school care as food provision may enhance the benefit calculations of suchschemes. Several participants cautioned against relying on teachers and existingschool staff for these programmes, suggesting that the quality of teaching may suffer ifteachers are asked to supervise students in before-school programmes.With the current economic crisis and the likely rising unemployment rate in NewZealand, the role of schools in providing a safety net of food provision should beactively monitored. If the current ad hoc arrangements are coming under strain, thenit is likely that a more considered policy response is required. This could be thedevelopment of national level programmes, or increased support for local solutions. Inorder to develop evidence of successful school food programmes, and impacts onstudent health, education and food security outcomes, an active trial and evaluationprogramme should be implemented.RecommendationsMaintain existing funding for Fruit in Schools.The initial evaluation findings of the Fruit in Schools scheme show signs of positiveoutcomes for children in increasing fruit consumption. The scheme also appearslargely acceptable to schools and policymakers. For this reason it seems prudent toensure the existing coverage of Fruit in Schools across decile one and two schools ismaintained. This includes removing the requirement that schools identify fundingoptions for the scheme after three years of government funding. When furtherevaluation results are available a discussion should be held on whether Fruit inSchools should be expanded to more schools. Because a fruit in schools scheme islikely to have less impact on food security compared with a breakfast or lunch inschools programme, due to the energy provided, an active research programme ofbreakfast programmes is also recommended.Keep a watching brief on existing programmes.The evidence regarding the impact of school food programmes on child outcomeslooks likely to increase in the near future with several schemes being trialled in NewZealand and internationally. An active programme of considering research andevaluation findings, and implications for policy in New Zealand, should be developed.Funding evaluations of existing New Zealand programmes, including those providedby charitable organisations, should be part of this approach.59