Healthy Lunchtimes

At St Mary’s CE Junior School we encourage children to develop healthy lifestyles by considering what constitutes a healthy meal, as well as encouraging children to take plenty of exercise both during P.E lessons and through active playtime. Evidence from current research shows that:

• Children are better prepared for learning if they eat well
• Children make more progress if they have eaten the right nutritional lunch
• Only 1% of packed lunches provide the correct nutrition
• Eating hot dinners is an important social occasion and the children learn vital social skills

One of the easiest ways to ensure that your child gets all the nutrients they need is for them to have a hot school dinner provided through our partnership with HC3S. They produce a menu which has a three-weekly cycle and is available for parents to view (www.hants.gov.uk/hc3s).

Healthy Weights in Hampshire – Children

These research findings indicate why healthy eating and good exercise is such an important topic in our schools.

• 1 in 5 of our Year R children are overweight or obese
• 1 in 3 of our Year 6 children are overweight or obese
• Nationally, 1 in 5 secondary students are obese
• Social deprivation makes matters worse
• Children with physical or learning disabilities are at greater risk

Packed Lunches – What the research tell us

Whilst we recognise that many of you take a lot of care planning healthy lunchboxes, a sample nearly 1300 Hampshire pupil’s packed lunches showed the following:

• Only 1% of packed lunches meet nutritional standards
• Only 5% of packed lunches contain all 5 of the necessary food groups
• Less than 20% contain any vegetables
• About half contain dairy or fruit
• Fruit is the thing least likely to be eaten from the lunchbox
• One third contain no protein