Are our children filling up on junk foods from school tuckshops and if so, what should be done? Lindsay Ord canvassed opinion...
Consultant dietitian Carol Browne is all in favour of more healthy foods in schools, but says children need to be encouraged to make healthy choices.
"There has to be a demand created and it has to be seen to be cool to eat fruit. Maybe the schools' sports teams should get involved and promote healthy eating.
"I am not against so-called junk foods in schools, but there must be an alternative of healthy foods too. Eating chips is not a problem if the child is also eating a balanced lunch of a sandwich and juice. Problems arise when chips are the only thing the child eats.
"Another problem is vendors outside the school gates. Vendors find it heavy to carry a box of apples to the school gate and, if the fruit is not bought, it goes off. A box of chips is lighter and has a longer shelf life.
"Fresh drinking water must be easily available in schools. If a child has to put his head in a basin to drink from a tap in the toilets, he's more likely to buy a cola from a vending machine. Water should be more accessible."
The Heart Foundation of Southern Africa is also concerned about what children are eating at school. Last year, it launched an educational programme called Edu-Heart, aimed at primary schools and designed to assist schools in offering healthy choices at the tuckshop and vending machines, or by encouraging healthy packed lunches.
Currently there are 70 schools in the Western Cape benefiting from the Edu-Heart programme, and plans are set to expand into the rest of South Africa this year.
Schools are given a simple questionnaire to fill in and then, according to their reply, are given information packs via email or fax that will help them in choosing healthier alternatives to sell and encourage their pupils to eat.
By making certain changes to their tuckshops, the schools then have the opportunity to become endorsed by the Heart Foundation.
Parents wishing to become involved can provide the Heart Foundation with their details, and receive regular updates on healthy eating tips and lunchbox ideas for children, as well as general heart health.
The Edu-Heart programme is available for sponsorship: for further information, please contact Hillary Woodley on 021 447 4222 or email: edu-heart@heartfoundation.co.za
The South African Nutritional Experts Panel conducted a survey last year of four Gauteng schools involving 648 children between grades one and seven. Among the findings were:
- 81 percent took lunchboxes to school, 100 percent in the independent school, while in the Soweto school, one in three did not bring a packed lunch.
- Most common foods in lunchboxes: 33 percent had white bread sandwiches with protein filling; 40 percent had fruit or fruit juice; 25 percent included crisps; 17 percent included chocolates and cold drinks; 14 percent included sweets; 57 percent of lunchboxes were prepared by mother, 19 percent prepared lunch-boxes themselves.
- Tuckshop/hawker purchases: 63 percent bought food after school from a tuckshop or hawker. Some 27 percent bought sweets and crisps, 23 percent chocolates, 21 percent ice-cream and meat pies, 19 percent ice lollies and 40 percent of children bought from a tuckshop or hawker more than three times a week.
The average amount spent per day was R6,52. In all cases, mothers played a big role in influencing what children eat.