Eat Well, Move More, Live Longer.
What Is Change4Life?
These days, ‘modern life’ can mean that we’re a lot less active. With so many opportunities to watch TV or play computer games, and with so much convenience and fast food available, we don’t move about as much, or eat as well as we used to. Which means that 9 out of 10 kids today could grow up with dangerous amounts of fat in their bodies. This can cause life-threatening diseases like cancer, type 2 diabetes and heart disease – so it’s really important that we do something about it.
Change4Life is a society-wide movement that aims to prevent people from becoming overweight by encouraging them to eat better and move more. The campaign aims to inspire a societal movement in which everyone who has an interest in preventing obesity, be they Government, business, healthcare professionals, charities, schools, families or individuals, can play their part.
How the Trust and the Food and Nutrient-Based Standards support Change4Life
The work of the Trust is complementary to that of Change4Life and the Trust is pleased and proud to be a Change4Life partner and work along side the campaign. The table below shows how the work of the Trust sits with the Change4Life Behaviours.
Change4Life Behaviours
| How compliant school food helps
|
| Sugar Swaps | School Food Regulations prevent the provision of:- Snacks with added sugar,
- Confectionery such as chocolate and cereal bars,
- Drinks with a high sugar content,
Nutrient-based standards have strict controls on non-milk extrinsic sugar (added sugar) content at lunchtime. |
5-A-Day
| - School lunches must provide a portion of fruit and a portion of vegetables for every pupil eating a school lunch,
- The Trust’s research showed that pupils who eat school lunches are much more likely to eat vegetables than those who have a packed lunch, mid-morning break, tuck shops, vending and after school clubs,
- In primary schools, pupils who have a school lunch eat on average 1.6 portions of fruit and vegetables, compared with 1 portion in a packed lunch.
|
Meal Time
| - School Food Regulations apply to breakfast clubs and encourage a healthier breakfast, to keep children feeling full for longer and preventing unhealthy snacking,
- School food provides variety and children are more likely to experiment when their friends do,
- By sitting and eating together at lunchtime, children are likely to learn social skills relating to conversation, peer interaction, interacting with adults (especially if school staff sit and eat with pupils), clearing up after themselves and others, and using a knife and fork.
|
Snack Check
| - Healthy food eaten in school at breakfast, morning break, lunch and after-school clubs releases energy more slowly and reduces the inclination to snack,
- Food-based standards for food other than lunch ban soft drinks, confectionery such as cereal bars and snacks with added fat, salt and sugar,
- Fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds with no added salt, sugar and fat can be provided.
|
Me Size Portions
| - Calorie limits in the nutrient-based standards mean that the average school lunch contains energy appropriate to the needs of the pupils,
- Appropriate calorie limits are in place for mixed, single sex, infant and junior, and middle and secondary schools,
- Cooks’ training emphasises flexible portions for pupils within these calorie limits,
- Extra bread supplies low-fat energy for more physically active pupils,
- Self-serve is increasingly being introduced in schools via a servery or at tables.
|
Cut Back Fat
| - Nutrient-based standards have strict controls on fat content at lunchtime,
- Foods with added fat are not allowed as snacks,
- Standards for starchy foods cooked in fat and deep-fried foods apply across the school day, not just at lunch-time.
|
Let’s Get Cooking provided training for staff at 60 Sure Start Children’s Centres under the Cook4Life brand.
