Healthy Schools Initiative?

[Rosy]

I'm about to get involved in a healthy schools initiative at my daughter's primary school, and thought I'd see if anyone on Mumsnet had been involved in one and had any ideas to share. From the discussion on "fizzy pop sneaked in to water bottle", it's obviously something people can feel quite strongly about. One of the things I was thinking about was being more specific on what children would be allowed to bring in to eat at playtime. Would it really be feasible to tell parents that they weren't allowed to give their five year old a packet of crisps every day? And if they do, what can you do about it? I'd be grateful to know what people think.

[batgirl]

I think the Healthy Schools intiative is fantastic!!

It covers a great deal more than food - though food is the area that parents can often get most easily involved with. Healthy Schools ranges from emotional wellbeing, physical health, inclusion etc etc ofor children, staff and so on. It really is a fab way of introducing loads of ideas & practices into school.

To go back to your specific question though - yes, IME, it is quite feasible to do this. Does the school have a school council? It would be an ideal subject for a school council to address as most children are aware of healthy eating issues from their schoolwork. My children's school council recently dealt with this & concluded that fruit, vegetables & cheese were suitable breaktime snacks.

HTH!

[SueW]

Yes, our school tells parents no chocolate or crisps at breaktime. Also the children all have a water bottle they are allowed to keep with them all day.

You can do a fruit and milk scheme

www.schoolmilk.co.uk/

School fruit and veg scheme

[marialuisa]

DD's school only allows fruit, veg, dried fruit and cheese. School also provides fresh fruit and milk or water at morning play. No other drinks allowed and no packed lunches allowed which probably helps.

[Furball]

My ds' school, you have to give a snack for playtime and the school rule is, it CAN ONLY be fruit or a piece of cheese - I even asked about having a cream cracker with the cheese and the answer was no. I suppose they do have to be strict as with todays junk food it could easily be, well you've got cheese and crackers, so I'll have dairylea dunkers. I didn't read the thread 'fizzy pop sneaked into water bottle' off to now.

[WigWamBam]

I think it's feasible. My dd's school is getting heavily involved with a healthy eating campaign, and the children aren't actually allowed to take food with them to eat at playtimes at all. At the moment they don't feel they can impose a healthy eating plan onto those bringing packed lunches, but snacks at other times are banned as the school provides fruit and vegetables for both morning and afternoon break. Children can bring any still drinks they like, but they are only for playtimes - water is provided for them at lunchtime, and is also given during lessons.

The school are trying a number of initiatives to encourage children to eat school meals rather than take lunchboxes, as lunchboxes tend to be less healthy than the school meals are. They have started having "taster" days once every half term when all the children have a school meal (no packed lunches allowed on that day) and they have "taster" plates where the children can try out new foods. They are running a competition to design a healthy packed lunch, and another one to make up a recipe for a healthy school lunch - the winner gets their meal made for the entire school to eat.

They're only three weeks into the new scheme though, so although it seems to be working at the moment, only time will tell! It all looks hopeful at the moment though.

[Yorkiegirl]

Message withdrawn

[mixed]

now, I don't want to sound stupid, but was is exactly the bad thing about fizzy drinks? It has been linked to obesity but as far as I can see the amount of sugar is the same in juice and fizzy drink. I also understand that the acidity of fizzy drinks causes teeth erosions but lot of studies are comparing it with water. What about the acidity of orange juice?
And no, my children don't drink fizzy drinks, they luckely don't even like it. But ds does drink juice and squash and sweetened soyamilk...

[WigWamBam]

Part of the problem with fizzy drinks is in the additives that they contain, not just the sugar or acidity. They tend to be full of artificial flavourings, colourings and sweeteners, which fresh juice doesn't have. Some people believe that these additives can cause hyperactivity and behavioural problems, amongst other things, so they're not ideal for giving in schools.

Water is better for hydration than fizzy drinks, and accodring to dd's school there's research that shows it helps the children to concentrate better during their lessons.

Plus fizzy drinks are a bit too useful for shaking up and using to drench people!

[mixed]

WWB, the non juice/non fizzy drinks also contains additives etc etc. So why would they be better than the fizzy ones? Just wondering about the "chemistry" of the bubbles that make them worse than the non fissy drnks.

[homemama]

My school gained the healthy school award last year. WE had to produce an action plan on how we were going to improve things. We set up a tuck shop, run by the Y6 kids which sold cereal bars and fruit. Some of the bars are actually quite high in cals but the government guidelines say this is ok because the cals come from carbs and natural sugars.

Previously we had sold crisps and chocolate, both of which actually made the school some money whereas the bars and fruit did not.

Another thing we did was water bottles. This met with lots of opposition but SW water helped pay for them as part of their community scheme and after 2 or 3 weeks they (kids) stopped being silly about them and used them appropriately.

We also banned choc and crisps from packed lunches and did lots of PSHCE work on the 5 a day and healthy eating. For part of this we had Sainsburys and Hovis visit and also a dietician.

I can look out some info and plans and stuff if you think they might help. Let me know if you want me to CAT anything to you.

HTH

[homemama]

Sorry, in answer to your question, it is perfectly reasonable to set school rules which include what a child can and cannot bring into school and that includes crisps.
We had lots of opposition at our school as it is in a deprived area where we often saw our kids queuing up at the chip shop every night for their dinner. Also they'd come in with really inappropiate snacks like those huge bars of chocolate of a full tub of pringles!!!

Many of the kids get quite excited about the whole thing and then start telling their parents that they don't want crisps. (Some pay no attention )
Good Luck

[Fauve]

Not sure of the science, but there has been research which showed a link between drinking fizzy drinks as a child and higher incidence of osteoporosis when older.

[mixed]

Drinking cola has been linked with osteoporosis in women. A new study has found that women who drink caffeinated cola are at greater risk of suffering fractures or developing brittle bone disease.

The caffeine in cola is responsible for removing calcium from the body, so decaffeinated drinks do not have the same effect.

Previously, researchers had believed that the connection between fizzy drinks and bone weaknesses, which has become evident in recent years, was due to acids which are added to carbonated drinks. Others have blamed artificial sweeteners, or the fact that people who drink many fizzy drinks are unlikely to be drinking enough milk.

Dr Robert Heaney and Dr Karen Rafferty of the Creighton University Osteoporosis Research Centre in the United States, examined the effects of seven drinks, including cola water and milk on women's bones. They found that cola which contained caffeine caused the body to excrete significantly more calcium than normal.

"Though the caffeine in the cola drinks was primarily responsible for small but significant increases in excess calcium excretion, the main cause of calcium loss from other carbonated beverages was their lack of the nutrients needed for bone health", according to the researchers.

So still not sure why fizzy drinks are worse than non fizzy/non juice drinks

[frannyf]

As far as I know, mixed, the carbonation is not the main factor, just that the fizzy type drinks almst always contain a lot more nasties, sugar etc. than the healthy juice type drink. It would probably make more sense to ban all drinks except....insert healthy alternatives here. Does carbonation lead to more tooth decay? Not sure.

[yoyo]

WigWamBam - those taster days sound a good idea. Are the meals cooked on the premises or in a central place and delivered to school? It is the latter in ours and although they have introduced a new healthier menu I am not sure what the quality is like. Would encourage mine to have school dinners - just need to see what they are like for myself first.

[WigWamBam]

It's all cooked on the premises. I'm impressed with the kind of food that dd has been telling me she's been eating - nothing deep fried or processed at all.

[fsmail]

I had heard that carbonated water was not good for your teeth by a qualified nutritionist who was teaching a course I was on and therefore if carbonated water is based, the carbonation must be bad and therefore with the sweeteners and sugar in fizzy drinks it is a cocktail that should not be together. Having said that it did get me to work during pregnancy.

[Rosy]

Thanks for all your ideas. It sounds like the things people have done have been pretty radical. I think I'd be quite miffed about being told I could only send fruit or cheese, as I often send a home made biscuit, or a hot cross bun. But I suppose a simple rule is easier for everyone to follow. I'm in Scotland, where all P1 & P2s get a few pieces of fruit each week. Homemama - thanks for the offer, I'll get back to you (CAT= Contact a Talker, right?) if I need more info.