Wirral schools get top marks for their dinners

It means that every day around 12,000 children are tucking into school dinners that are low in fat, sugar and salt. The schools – nursery, special and primary – have been praised by the cardiovascular disease prevention charity 'Heart of Mersey' for supporting children to develop healthy eating habits. The charity awards the Greater Merseyside Food Charter only if it is satisfied that organisations meet the strict criteria drawn up by experts from, amongst others, Liverpool John Moores University, Wirral Council, NHS Wirral and the heart charity itself. Poor diet is a major risk factor for overweight and obesity. In Wirral, more than 8,000 children between the ages of four and 16 are classified as obese. Among the Charter recipients is St. Joseph's Catholic Primary School in Oxton, Birkenhead, where take-up of school dinners has increased by 30% in the last 18 months. St. Joseph's works closely with the council run service providers Metro Catering to make school meals – in fact the whole school food experience – appealing to children whilst satisfying government nutritional standards. For just £2.00, St. Joseph's pupils can tuck into freshly prepared food, like low fat meat pie (or a vegetarian alternative) with a choice of at least three different vegetables, and as much salad as they like from the free salad bar, followed by a choice of desserts including fresh fruit salad. Cook-in-charge Colette Sudlow, is highly thought of as head teacher Steve Dainty explains: "Like all the cooks employed by Metro, Colette and her team are all trained to professional catering standards and know what children like. They work hard to ensure they are getting the right balance through freshly cooked, nutritious food. Child obesity is a problem across the country; you have to do what you can to improve children's health." Improvements at St. Joseph's include a £90,000 kitchen refurbishment, which included getting rid of the deep fat fryer and moving the servery into the dining hall so pupils can see the food on offer. The healthy eating message is reinforced through initiatives like the after school cookery club, taster sessions for parents through the PTA and a healthy tuck shop selling fruit and seeds, kick-started with £100 from the school fund. Graham Rossiter, who heads up Metro Catering, said that all schools involved in the Metro contract have either achieved Charter status or been highly commended. Thousands of leaflets promoting the scheme are being circulated to schools across Wirral to encourage further take-up. He said: "This is an excellent example of partnership-working. For parents, it means that when their child eats one of our healthy menu meals at lunchtime, the food provided meets the nutritional criteria laid down in the Food Charter for Greater Merseyside."