Tough nutrition standards come into force for primary schools

New menus being introduced across England include healthy versions of old favourites – from traditional roasts to Chilli Con Carne and Shepherd's Pie; from homemade salmon fingers and stir fries to risotto, with fresh fruit, vegetables and salads. Junk food has already been banned from being sold in canteens and school vending machines – but the new standards will specify the maximum (fat, saturated fat, sugar, salt) and minimum (carbohydrate, protein, fibre, vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, calcium, iron, zinc) nutrient value of an average school lunch. The standards will be statutory for secondary schools in England from September 2009. Ed Balls today said the nutrient standards were a vital step in fighting childhood obesity. But he urged schools to make tucking into school lunch more enjoyable for children starting this term – particularly in secondaries. He warned that 11-year-olds might be put off eating healthy dinners and miss out on the benefits of healthy, unless there is a proper lunch culture and they are treated like proper paying customers. Mr Balls pointed to experience of the best schools, where simple, straightforward steps can combat the historical drop-off and raise take up. These include: • staggering lunch breaks, using swipe card systems or letting pupils pre-book lunches online to cut queues; • younger children eating separately from older pupils; strong stay-on-site policies, if heads choose to use them; • replacing ugly, plastic compartmentalised food trays, with proper china and cutlery; • actively marketing healthy lunches to families • involving young people in drawing up menus. Provisional figures from the 2008 school lunch take up survey, published by the School Food Trust and Local Authority Caterers' Association in July, showed the corner has finally been turned on school dinners. It showed that over three million children are eating school dinners daily – an increase of around 50,000 extra pupils over last year; a two percentage points rise to 43% in primary schools, while take up in secondary schools has now levelled out, after a steep fall, at 37%. The final figures will be published in the next few weeks. Children, Schools and Families Secretary of State Ed Balls said: "School catering staff and teachers are doing some fantastic work. July's provisional take-up survey figures showed we are finally turning the corner – as all the experts accept, including Jamie Oliver. "School catering is a really tough job and a culture change in schools and wider society of this size doesn't simply happen overnight. I understand schools' concerns about the time, effort and cost that introducing healthy lunches take. "But the bottom line is six out of 10 secondary pupils are still not eating school dinners. Schools, parents, children and Government need to tackle obesity together and we make no apologies for introducing tough nutrient standards. "Moving to secondary school is a big moment in anyone's life. Many children, who eat healthy lunches at primary school, stop when they go to senior school - put off by long lunch queues; unpopular menus; or having to eat in the same room as teenagers six or seven years older then them. The fact is that children are not going to eat lunch at school if none of their friends are. "The best way of keeping 11-year-olds eating at school is to treat them like the proper paying customers they are. Lunch should be a social occasion and children need a good dining experience in their first few weeks of secondary school or else they may never come back. "Hundreds of schools are already leading the way in this - it is not rocket science to give them time and space to eat; involve them in drawing up menus; and market school food properly to families." School Food Trust Chairman Prue Leith said: "This week we begin the final steps in radically changing school food. Over-fatty, salty, or sugary are gone, replaced by nutritious and delicious meals. This is an essential step in