Healthy school meals take-up

Children should be banned from leaving school during the lunch hour to prevent them eating unhealthy foods, it has been suggested.

The School Food Trust (SFT) made the proposal as it fears too many pupils are avoiding the healthier foods available in dinner halls by buying their food off school premises.

Improvements in the quality of meals prepared by school catering staff followed a high-profile campaign by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver and others.

The Department for Children, School and Families is investing £500 million in subsidising meals until 2011, helping schools through the initial loss-making period of their healthier food campaign.

Figures released last September by the Liberal Democrats showed the number of pupils eating school meals had fallen in the past two years, leading to criticism that the government should have waited until more parents and pupils were behind the measures.

Ministers insisted the number of children eating fruit and vegetables had increased, however, but the SFT now believes more needs to be done to ensure children are eating healthily.

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