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Fussy eaters try more food at school
FUSSY eaters can be tempted to try new grub at school, a survey has found.
The School Food Trust said four out of five children in England who stay for school lunches have tried food at school which they had not had at home.
South Tyneside catering manager Elizabeth Luke said her staff work hard to make sure youngsters are eating a balanced meal.
She said: "Reward and education are our biggest tools in making sure children eat a balanced meal.
"When it comes to trying something new, we have had some surprising results with food such as Mediterranean vegetables, but other things like sweet potato just don't appeal to the children.
"On the other hand, our children are good at eating plenty of fruit and veg.
"We have self-serve salad bars across all our primary schools.
"It's low level, so they can all see what they are choosing, and some of the children put on as much as they can get on their plates.
"It's fantastic. And broccoli – or little trees as the children call it – is extremely popular.
"We have stickers for the little ones which say 'I've had a healthy meal today' and 'I tried something new today'.
"We also have healthy eating sessions, where we teach the kids about the different nutritional value in food."
South Tyneside has one of the highest uptakes of school meals in primary schools across the country.
But Mrs Luke is always on the lookout for new ways to steer children's food habits in the right direction.
As such, she will be piloting a 'golden table' in one of the borough's primary schools this term.
She added: "Children get to sit on the golden table for the day if they try something new. It's like VIP status.
"Every school has some initiative to encourage healthy diets going on, and the headteachers are all on board and all extremely positive.
"We very much talk to our staff to create our menus, because I'm a big believer that they know best.
"They've also had training to encourage healthy eating."
Half of parents questioned in the national survey said their children had asked for foods they had eaten at school to be cooked at home.
England's School Food Trust commissioned the research after a survey by the Mumsnet website suggested some parents gave their children packed lunches because they thought they were too fussy to eat anything else.
Trust chairman Rob Rees said: "School meals can be a great way to help parents encourage their children to try new foods, and to increase the variety of foods in their diet."
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Weather for Jarrow
Thursday 17 May 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 6 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 5 C to 10 C
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