APPENDIX 6
Memorandum from the Department for Education
and Employment
INTRODUCTION
1. The Government proposes to introduce
national nutritional standards for school lunches against the
background of its commitment to improve the health of the whole
population and to reduce health inequalities between different
social groups. Diet is one of several factors which affect short-term
and long-term health, particularly the risk of coronary heart
disease and some cancers. Central to our education strategy is
the promise to raise the standard of children's educational attainment.
Their ability to concentrate, as well as their growth and development,
can be impaired if they are not eating properly.
2. This memorandum provides factual information
about children's diets and school lunches. The Government will
be consulting in the Autumn on draft regulations setting out the
nutritional standards and associated good practice guidance and
will send full details to the Select Committee.
CHILDREN'S
DIETS
3. The National Study of Health and Growth
which ran between 1972 and 1994 has demonstrated that primary
school children are, on average, growing taller (by about 0.4
millimetres a year) and heavier than ever before. Like the adult
population they are growing fatter. This has been confirmed by
the Health Survey for England in 1995-97. Preliminary (and as
yet unpublished) data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey
of almost 2,000 four to 18 year olds conducted in 1997-98 should
provide an important basis for policy making in this area. Preliminary
results show that on average children's diets are adequate or
more than adequate in their provision of all nutrients, except
for iron among the older girls and calcium among 11-18 year old
girls and boys. However, like adult diets, their diets provide
more than the recommended intakes of fat and saturated fatty acids.
Their intakes of total fat and of saturated fatty acids as a percentage
of food energy average about 40 per cent and 14 per cent respectively,
compared with recommendations from the Committee on Medical Aspects
of Food and Nutrition Policy (COMA), aimed at reducing the risk
of cardiovascular disease, of 35 per cent and 11 per cent respectively.
4. On average children's overall diets do
not have a healthy balance between different foods. They are too
high in fatty and sugary foods and too low in fruit and vegetables
and in bread, other cereals and potatoes (other than chips). While
school lunches provide about the right amount of nutrients, they
are similarly unbalanced.
5. On average, school lunches provide 30-37
per cent of children's daily energy intakes and 23-41 per cent
of their daily intakes of key nutrients. They are poor sources
of iron (23-30 per cent of total daily intake) and folate (23-32
per cent), good sources of vitamin C (28-39 per cent) and are,
unfortunately, rich sources of fat (33-41 per cent) and saturated
fatty acids (30-36 per cent). This is because school lunches provide
36-71 per cent of all puddings eaten on a daily basis by school
age children, 26-38 per cent of meat products and 48-55 per cent
of all chips. All of these are a rich source of fat with a high
proportion of saturated fatty acids.
6. There appear to be few differences in
the nutrient intakes of children who have a free school lunch,
children who pay for a school lunch and children who do not have
a school lunch. Free school lunches appear to provide significantly
less sugar but also significantly less calcium and vitamin C than
paid lunches. Children who do not take school lunches have significantly
lower fat, protein and fibre intakes than those who take free
or paid school lunches and higher sugar intakes than those on
free lunches.
NUTRITION IN
SCHOOL LUNCHES
7. Nutritional standards have not been set
by the Government since 1981. Since that time, each local education
authority has been able to set its own nutritional and other qualitative
and quantitative requirements as part of its contract with a school
meals service provider.
8. There is widespread recognition among
local education authorities and schools that school food should
reflect the need to promote a healthy, balanced diet and, more
specifically, contribute to reducing fat and sugar consumption.
The detailed specification drawn up by each local education authority
or school reflects its own local requirements and the available
budget. The Government's forthcoming nutritional standards, to
be introduced by regulations made under new powers in the School
Standards and Framework Act 1998, are intended to be a national
framework guaranteeing a minimum entitlement rather than a constraint
on the freedom which is rightly exercised at local level. The
1998 consultation document Ingredients for Success, invited
views on ways of setting standards. Detailed draft regulations
will be the subject of further consultation this Autumn.
9. Nutritionally-balanced school lunches
can help to improve the diets of those children who eat them.
If a child has a school lunch on every school day and eats three
meals a day, school lunches will form about a fifth of his or
her meals over a year (including holidays and weekends). Children's
eating patterns do not always match the traditional model. Some,
not necessarily those receiving free lunches, do not eat breakfast
or have a substantial meal at home in the evening. For some young
people snacking throughout the day is not unusual. However, information
from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey suggests that on school
days pupils eating a school lunch are getting about a third of
their energy (calorie) intake from their school lunch and that
on average a school lunch forms a significant part of a child's
diet. Many schools and caterers are responding to changing trends
in eating patterns and food preferences. Some schools serve breakfast
and snacks after school, often as part of a homework club, other
study support or childcare arrangements.
10. There is a duty to provide free school
lunches to eligible pupils and under the 1998 Act paid lunches
must be available to other pupils, if requested. However, pupils
are not required to have a school lunch. School lunches will need
to be sufficiently attractive and affordable from both the pupil's
and the parent's point of view in order to compete successfully
with the alternatives, particularly for secondary school children
who can leave the school premises at lunchtime.
11. There is no guarantee that children
will choose and eat a well-balanced diet. Nutritionally-balanced
food which is not consumed makes no contribution to children's
well-being. Caterers can and many do prepare food in ways which
increase pupils' chances of obtaining a balanced diet, whatever
combination of foods they select and eat. Some already tempt children
to try different foods and eat a balanced diet, supporting classroom
teaching about health and nutrition.
ORGANISATION AND
FUNDING OF
SCHOOL LUNCHES
12. In January 1998 16.2 per cent of primary
pupils and 12 per cent of secondary pupils had a free school lunch.
A pupil is entitled to a free school lunch if his or her parents
are receiving Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance.
Corresponding figures for paid lunches are not available. However
statistics from the previous year indicated that 15 per cent of
pupils had a free lunch and 27 per cent of pupils paid for a school
lunch (42 per cent of pupils in total). About three million school
lunches are served every day in England. Other pupils either bring
a packed lunch from home, go to a local food outlet or go home.
13. Funding for free school lunches is distributed
to local education authorities through the system of Standard
Spending Assessments. Standard Spending Assessments allow for
variations in the proportions of children eligible for free school
meals but are unhypothecated, leaving authorities free to decide
for themselves what services should be provided. Total local authority
expenditure in England on school meals in 1998-99 was in the region
of £388 million. The majority of this represented the cost
of providing free lunches, however this figure might also include
an element of subsidy on paid lunches or other meals in some areas.
14. Where children are not eligible for
a free lunch, their parents pay for lunches. A survey by Gardner
Merchant in 1998 showed that pupils spent an average of £1.28
at lunchtime.
15. Under Fair Funding arrangements grant-maintained
schools are continuing to receive delegated funding for school
lunches. Since 1 April 1999 LEAs have been required to delegate
funding for lunches to secondary schools not covered by existing
contracts on that date. A few authorities have also delegated
funding to primary schools. Orders transferring the responsibility
for school lunches to governing bodies of various types of schools
have been made for 27 local education authorities. All other secondary
schools will receive their own budgets for school lunches from
1 April 2000. Individual primary and special schools will be able
to request delegation of funds from that time, if they wish to
take responsibility for school lunches. It is also open to a local
education authority to delegate funding to all schools in its
area. Schools which receive a delegated budget for providing school
lunches can buy back into the LEA's arrangements, if they wish.
Department for Education and Employment
July 1999
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