The LACA chair made the comments following a report on the Daily Mail that exposed some of the lunches children are sent to school with by a headteacher in Kent.
Jon Carthy, headtacher at Byron Primary School in Gillingham, Kent, revealed on the Daily Mail that the school has produced guidelines for parents after one child was sent to school with a cold McDonald’s ‘Happy Meal’.
Sally Shadrack Chair of LACA said: “Unfortunately instances such as this are still all too common at schools across the country. We know that only 1% of packed lunches meet the nutritional standards that school meals are held to, and this latest example reinforces that fact.
“School meals are balanced, healthy and provide the vital nutrition that children need to concentrate in the afternoon as well as a host of other benefits. Sending children to school with chocolate bars, crisps and cold fast food is damaging not only to their health but also to their education. School meals remain the most reliable way to ensure that children are getting their required nutrition at lunch time and are best equipped to learn.”