Tackling Obesity in England - National Audit Office

TACKLING OBESITY IN ENGLAND25Intersecting policy objectives and key initiatives to encourage healthy eating in schoolsDepartment of HealthTo improve healthand reduce healthinequalitiesDefine and promotehealthy dietMonitoring throughNational Diet andNutrition SurveySchools provide ahealthy diet and educationon nutritionYoung people eat a balancednutritious diet in schoolsNational Standards forschool lunchesFree fruit in schools(subject to pilots)Food technology andnutrition in curriculum"Cooking for Kids" campaignYoung people haveaccess to a choice offood in schoolsDepartment forEducation and EmploymentTo ensure young peoplereach 16 with the skills,attitudes and personalqualities to give them asecure foundation forlifelong learning, workand citizenship27Department forIntersecting policy objectives and key initiatives to encourage the healthy Environment,Food Standards eating Agency in schoolsTransport & the RegionsTo improve the diet of theTo reduce reliance on carswhole populationand make it easier to walkand cycleFood technology andnutrition in curriculum"Cooking for Kids" campaignSource:National Audit OfficeDepartment of HealthTo improve healthand reduce healthinequalitiesDefine and promotehealthy dietSource:businessesNationalcanAuditmakeOfficeto education, the Department forSchools provide ahealthy diet and educationon nutritionYoung people haveaccess to a choice offood in schoolsDepartment forEducation and EmploymentTo ensure young peoplereach 16 with the skills,attitudes and personalqualities to give them asecure foundation forlifelong learning, workand citizenship4.63 There is, however, a risk of inconsistency between Young people eat a balanced they become involved in sponsorship, advertising orcertain sponsorship activities of schools and initiatives nutritious diet in schools marketing schemes, or in any local business-linkedto promote a balanced diet for young people. In order National to Standards activity, for they should consider possible disadvantages. Itsupplement the resources to support literacy andschool lunchesadvises schools to follow the National ConsumerFree fruit in schoolsnumeracy, for example, schools have participated with Council's 'Sponsorship in Schools - Good Practice(subject to pilots)businesses in schemes to provide free books and maths Guidelines' 41 , which were developed with the help ofequipment in return for tokens from crisp and biscuit education, business and consumer groups. Thispackets. This type of commercial involvement, which guidance states that, when considering a sponsoredMonitoring throughhas the effect of directly promoting sales of particular resource or activity, schools should ask themselvesNational Diet andproducts, may encourage children Nutrition and Survey their families to whether, among other things, "children and teachers canbuy more snack foods with a high fat, salt and sugar participate without buying the sponsor's products", andcontent. This would act directly in opposition toDepartment forwhether it is "free of incentives to children to eat anthe Environment,initiatives to discourage over-dependence on suchFood Standards AgencyTransport & the Regions unhealthy diet or take part in unsafe/unhealthyTo improve the diet of theenergy-dense snack foods in favour of balanced mealsTo reduce reliance on carswhole population activities". The guidance recognises that schemes areand make it easier to walkand increased consumption of fruit and vegetables. and cycle4.64 Whilst welcoming the positive contribution thatEducation and Employment recognises the risk thatcommercial promotions of certain foods aimed atschools might have an adverse influence on pupils'eating habits. It therefore advises schools that, beforelikely to "meet some guidelines and miss others" andthat schools must therefore decide for themselveswhether "taken as a whole, the sponsorship offer hasintegrity and educational value". There is no informationavailable, however, on the extent to which schoolscomply with the guidance, which is currently underreview.part four45