The School Nursing Team is aiming to establish good habits among the Island’s Year 6 primary school pupils during Healthy Eating Week 2017, building on the success of last year’s initiative in secondary schools.
The annual event, organised by the British Nutrition Foundation, runs Monday-Friday, 12-16 June, and highlights the importance of good nutrition to young people.
This year the team is visiting 25 primary schools to run interactive teaching sessions with pupils aged between 10 and 11 about the benefits of eating a healthy breakfast.
The aim is for the children to start understanding food labels and to be able to identify the ‘traffic light’ system on food packaging – particularly with regard to sugar intake where breakfast is concerned.
It is recommended that children aged 7 to 10 should have no more than six cubes of sugar in a day. A survey conducted by Public Health England demonstrated that many children consume more than 11g of sugar at breakfast time alone, equivalent to three cubes of sugar.
At the end of the session the children should have an understanding about:
- What makes up a healthy breakfast
- How much they should be eating by investigating portion sizes
- How they can tell if a breakfast is healthy or unhealthy by reading and understanding the food labels.
Establishing good habits among the young and encouraging them to think about their long-term health is a core theme of the Department of Health and Social Care’s five-year strategy. The initiative also supports the Programme for Government in providing a platform for people to lead longer, healthier lives.
Minister for Health and Social Care, Kate Beecroft MHK, said:
‘Many of the current demands placed on our health services arise from conditions linked with lifestyle choices. We must work to buck this trend for the next generation: educating and empowering children – with events like this – is key to that.
‘Government’s plans to adopt the UK’s Soft Drinks Industry Levy on the Island and ring fence that money to tackle childhood obesity is evidence of our commitment to addressing this issue.’
A healthy breakfast should contain the main food groups including whole grain cereals (starchy foods), fruit and vegetables, as well as dairy and protein, all of which provides the important nutrients needed to fuel the body for the day.
Sonia Cowin, a Community Nursery Nurse, said:
‘This year we have concentrated on the Year 6 children as many of them are starting to prepare their own breakfasts and it is essential that they develop the knowledge and skills needed to help them make an informed choice about eating a healthy breakfast.
‘Children sometimes skip breakfast which can increase feelings of hunger later in the day and can have a detrimental effect on concentration, mood and performance at school.’
Local food supplier Robinson’s is lending its support to help ensure the initiative is a success. As well as providing demonstration breakfast boxes for school nurses to use in interactive teaching demonstrations, the company will be sponsoring materials for use in a ‘Design Your Healthy Breakfast’ competition, which will invite the children to either create a recipe or draw their perfect healthy meal.
Janna Williamson, from Robinson’s, said:
‘Supplying fresh, high quality produce to the Island is at the heart of what we do, and we understand the value of good nutrition.
‘We have always welcomed school visits to our main depot at Ballapaddag, and are only too happy to strengthen our community links by supporting the primary schools and DHSC in this initiative.’
