Pupils' no to school food

Pupils are being turned off school dinners in Staffordshire despite a switch to healthier meals.

Fewer than four out of 10 children eat school food – transformed after pressure to improve from the likes of TV chef Jamie Oliver.

But it appears the new menus and nasty dinner halls put pupils off as the number eating school meals has dropped to 39 per cent. In May 2005 the Government set up a review of dinners and standards for salt, sugar and fat content were set. But the pupils' backlash has seen numbers plummet.

In Staffordshire in 2006 healthy options menus were brought into every school and since then a steady decline has resulted in only 25,000 of the county's 60,000 primary pupils having a school meal every day.

At Parkside Primary School, Stafford, only 59 of the 201 pupils eat a school meal every day.

Tina Randall, scrutiny manager at Staffordshire County Council, said councillors have looked for a solution to what is a national decline in take up.

"We undertook a series of random visits and staff and pupils filled out questionnaires," she said. "We then had lengthy discussion with people who supply the meals with the aims of coming up with one or two solutions to halt the decline.

"It became clear this is a complex and multi faceted problem and so we have come up with 15 recommendations. These include engaging more with the governing bodies and pupils, improving the eating environments and getting staff to eat along with pupils." She said the council will also be more rigorously following up non-payment of school meals.

All county schools will now be asked to improve the social experience of eating with rewards, and packed lunch and school dinner children allowed to eat together.

Councillor Veronica Dodd, who led the review, said: "The school meals service is struggling and I hope this will help to increase numbers. For some children the school meal maybe the only nutritious meal they receive during the day. With all the Government objectives to cut obesity and our really imaginative menus and nutritious food this really could make a difference."

Discussions have also been held about extending the school day to make lunch more enjoyable for everyone. Councillor David Leech said: "Some schools only have 30 minutes break. How can we expect children to queue, be served, eat properly and enjoy their meal is beggars belief. The lunch break should be a reasonable length and we should look at the possibility of extending the school day to make this possible.

"This would also extend parents' abilities to work."

Paul James, parent and governors representative on the committee, said this was not a good idea.