Jamie Oliver grinds his axe over school dinners again

Jamie Oliver has yet again been brought into the fray giving more advice on the fairly elementary topic of healthy eating for this time ……school children. Since the five a day idea of fruit salad and vegetables has been shoved down our throats for years any school teacher should know that this translates to school dinners as does roughage – such as brown bread and a reduction in white flour and too many sugary foods which we all know are not too good for us whether in drinks, sweets or biscuits and cakes.  However Jamie is premiering recipes which contain the elementary ingredients which we all already know are tops for good health and also suggesting that school children should be weighed regularly from the age of 3.  A “jewel in the crown” should be part of a national programme which is a new strategy to spot obesity in children at school thus cutting ill health in overweight children. He has added that it should be sensitively run to avoid causing children to have eating disorders – how appropriate.  Oliver has extended his reach against unhealthy food to prevent manufacturers putting too much sugar in yoghurts, sauces, cereals and biscuits to limit treats to 250 calories.  This is where a “name” is helpful in getting food products monitored.

One in 10 children starting school in the UK are classed as obese which rises to one in five by the time they leave.  Foods are to have simple labels which show the number of teaspoons of sugar they contain if Oliver gets his way which seems entirely reasonable.  He also wants to crack down on unhealthy packed lunches insisting parents are told what is a healthy lunch and teachers should monitor the contents.  He is working towards free school dinners and teachers eating packed lunches with children.

Another target is to make ads for sugary foods to be shown after 9 pm on TV, a ban on sweets and fizzy drinks in hospitals and sports centres and curbs on junk food shops and fast food vans near schools.