Yorkshire nutrition teams wins school contracts

The contracts cover five regions and will affect almost 24,000 children. The Harrogate company will provide its programme to schools in the City of York, Redcar and Cleveland, Middlesbrough, Enfield in London and to Ayrshire, its first contract in Scotland. Commencing with Phunky Foods' kickstart programme, the initiative is a 36-week rolling programme which has been developed by Purely Nutrition to teach primary children key messages related to healthy eating and physical exercise through fun interactive activities including art, drama, music, play and practical experience with food. "There is growing awareness not only of increasing childhood obesity, but also of the benefits to be gained from a healthy lifestyle such as enhanced pupil performance, increased concentration, and improved behaviour, motivation and self-esteem," said Purely Nutrition managing director Sorrell Fearnall. "As a result, more schools are keen to make healthy lifestyles part of their teaching, using our expertise to encourage pupils from a young age so that children develop healthy eating habits which they continue into adulthood." She continues: "With the addition of these latest five contract wins, 740 primary schools throughout the UK, comprising more than 200,000 children, will have access to the Phunky Foods programme." The programme covers every year group in primary school from Early Years to Key Stage 2 and builds year-on-year in to a full seven-year programme of work. Healthy eating and physical activity lesson plans are available for teachers but the Phunky Foods programme can also be delivered in a variety of ways (in different curriculum contexts and/or during out of hours school clubs) to suit school's own needs. There is also training available to teachers and support staff, which is supplemented by online resources.