How to encourage healthy eating in schools

When presented with a slice of pizza or a salad, most pupils will likely choose the pizza. The fast, greasy, and fried option will ultimately appeal to many students.

When faced with this reality, combined with the ever-increasing accessibility of fast, takeaway foods from outlets such as Deliveroo and JustEat, schools and parents face increasing challenges to get pupils to make healthier eating choices in schools. At ami Education, we are looking at practical and straightforward ways to encourage healthy eating in schools and the impact on pupils.

Emphasise nutrition education

Many of us understand how the food we eat impacts our everyday life, including our concentration levels, mood, skin, hair, and even sleep. However, some pupils, especially those without an active interest in food and nutrition, risk not understanding the full extent to which the food they put in their bodies affects their life.

Schools, parents, and guardians can take an active role in educating pupils about nutrition and the impact of a healthy diet on their ability to learn and their life outside of the classroom.

Focusing on how food can make us feel and demonstrating how the choices we make regarding food directly affects the way we behave enables action-based learning, which pupils can apply to their everyday life.

For example, demonstrating how switching from white pasta to wholewheat pasta can keep us fuller for longer and reduce the risk of excess snacking and how simple changes can significantly impact and encourage pupils to take an active role in their health.

Food labels and online resources

Nutrition and allergen information on food labels is mandatory. With Natasha's Law soon to come into effect, which will require all food businesses, including school caterers, to include accurate and in-depth ingredient lists on food labels, pupils must learn what this information means to them.

Nutrition information can help us make informed food choices. Educating pupils on reading and processing food labels is crucial, especially if we want pupils to carry healthy eating habits into adulthood.

Teachers can provide worksheets for pupils to fill in and compare food labels from different products in the classroom. Food A Fact Of Life, managed by the British Nutrition Foundation, which provides free educational resources for nutrition education, suggests providing pupils with clean packaging from a range of standard and healthy food options.

The pupils can read and compare food labels and discuss the findings with their classmates, such as the first ingredient listed in each product, compare the sugar and fat contents, and why some products are more likely to contain higher amounts of sugars than others. 

Online resources are not only available to schools but also parents and guardians. Websites such as Change4Life, launched in 2009 as part of a national goal set out in the government's Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives initiative, is designed to ensure parents and guardians have the essential support and tools they need to make healthier choices for their family.

Change4Life provides fun activities, recipes, and a range of food facts to help educate families on nutrition and provide a fun and interactive way for children to learn about a healthy lifestyle. Visit the Change4Life website to access these resources.

School dinners vs packed lunches

Whilst school catering teams strive to provide nutritious and tasty lunches to help power pupils through the day, the prevalence of packed lunches is a challenge for schools aiming to meet strict nutritional standards.

There is currently no government guidance on packed school lunches in UK schools. Whilst individual schools in England can decide their policy on food brought in from home, compared with hot school meals required to meet strict nutritional standards, packed lunches face fewer restrictions and increase the likelihood of unhealthy food brought in.

Research conducted by the Children's Food Trust in 2013 compared hot school meals against packed lunches following new compulsory school food standards. The research found that school meals are now consistently more nutritious than packed lunches, giving children who eat them a better foundation for good health.

For pupils of all ages, opting for hot school lunches where possible ensure their lunch choices will contain:

• High-quality meat, poultry or oily fish
• Fruit and vegetables
• Bread, other cereals and potatoes

Parents and pupils can also rest assured that restrictions for hot school meals apply to:

• Drinks with added sugar, crisps, chocolate, or sweets
• Limits of no more than two portions of deep-fried, battered, or breaded food a week

Offer a familiar ordering experience for pupils

Technology plays a significant part in our everyday lives, especially secondary school students. With easily accessible food delivery apps like Uber Eats and Deliveroo on every mobile phone, it has never been easier to provide a solution that competes with these out-of-the-gate spending options and encourage pupils back in the dining hall.

Technology like ami's Infinity+ Order app breaks the confines of the school dining hall and enables pupils to pre-order their school meals directly from their mobile phone, anytime, anywhere. Infinity+ Order offers secondary school pupils a familiar food ordering method whilst providing a host of other benefits to pupils and school staff, including:

• Reduced lunch queues - pupils pre-order their meals ready to collect at lunchtime
• Pupils can view their live cashless balance and previous transaction history anytime, anywhere
• Helps reduce food wastage by informing school catering teams of what to prepare in advance
• Reporting suite assists with stock control and trend predictions

From ground to fork

An increasing number of UK schools are now dedicating school ground spaces to growing fresh fruit and vegetables to serve in the school dining hall.

This new teaching method encourages pupils to make healthy eating choices in school by involving them in where their food comes from and teaching about food production outside of the classroom and the overall process from ground to fork.

For establishments with ground space to spare, providing areas for pupils to grow fresh fruits and vegetables teaches them to take an active interest in the food they eat.

Teaching pupils the value of growing their food encourages students to opt for lunch choices they grew and provides freshly grown, organic foods that appeal to students.

One UK school pioneering the way in growing and rearing its produce is Charlton Manor Primary School, based in South-East London. Its pupils grow figs, oranges, tomatoes, grapes, and kiwis. There are also chickens and three beehives on-site, whilst the school has a campaign team made up of year 5 and 6 pupils to raise awareness about healthy diets.

Charlton is a brilliant example of a school bringing together gardening and healthy eating. With vision and a bit of dedication, any school can get growing." Chris Collins, Head of Organic Horticulture for Garden Organic.

Get started

Encouraging students to make healthy choices in school can often seem like an uphill battle. With these simple tips and a wealth of online resources available for schools and parents, we can all get involved with inspiring the next generation to take control over their health, both inside and outside of the classroom.

Interested in learning more about Infinity+ Order? Get in touch to learn more about how pre-ordering can benefit your school.