The School Food Trust has responded to the Government’s call to action on obesity, published today.
The charity’s Director of Delivery, Linda Smith, said: “It’s great to see healthy school food and statutory nutritional standards for school meals highlighted for their part in tackling obesity – because the evidence of this only continues to grow.
“However, with academies and free schools no longer required to meet the statutory school food standards, we are watching the impact of this change very closely indeed.
“We agree that schools are places where children should learn about what it means to eat a balanced diet, and how to cook healthy meals for themselves – which is why we’re so clear that cooking must be a compulsory subject on the national curriculum, and that we have to help families to get even more involved with food and cooking at school.
“But the most important message here is the need to start early. Eating well needs to start from birth; that’s why we’re looking forward to rolling out the first, nationally-recognised voluntary guidance on healthy food and drink for children in nurseries and other early years settings very soon.”
