Government to give lunchbox advice
Saturday, 23 Sep 2006 10:51
The leaflets follow changes to guidelines for school lunches
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Tony Blair could become the next Jamie Oliver as the government makes plans to start giving parents advice on how to prepare healthy lunches.
According to the BBC, the government will tackle obesity in our schools by distributing leaflets through schools, teachers and directly to parents giving advice on preparing nutritious lunches.
The leaflet will suggest that packed lunches should contain one portion of starch, such as bread, one portion of meat, one portion of a dairy item, one vegetable portion and one fruit portion.
Created by the School Food Trust, the leaflets will aim to reduce the amount of salt, sugar and saturated fat in the daily 4.6 million packed lunches in the UK. They are due to be distributed within the next few weeks.
"A simple leaflet that helps you talk to your children about it, that helps you have a dialogue with the school about it, is what we're trying to do," said Judy Hargadon, chief executive of the School Food Trust.
"We're not trying to patronise, we're trying to help."
The leaflet follows recent changes to the guidelines for school meals, which must now include two portions of fruit and vegetables and restrict deep-fried foods.