Nutrition experts pushing a plan to hand off responsibility for school lunches from parents to schools

Imagine hearing you didn’t have to fill another school lunch box – ever. A group of leading nutrition experts are pushing a plan for schools to do it instead.

Adelaide nutrition experts are calling for an overhaul of kids’ school lunches, saying schools – not parents – might be best-placed to provide the midday meal.

A study by nutrition and dietetics researchers from Flinders University’s Caring Futures Institute has found there would be benefits in rolling out a universal school-provided lunch model here, where kids are each given the same thing to eat.

Institute deputy director Rebecca Golley argues it could be the best way to improve children’s nutrition across the nation.

Is it time to hand over school lunch responsibilities? Picture: Braden Fastier

“The meal would be prepared onsite and served to children in their classroom, school or dining hall or schoolyard,” Professor Golley said.

“Good nutrition during children’s school years supports their growth, learning and development with primary school-aged children consuming up to almost half of their daily energy intake during school hours.

“Nearly half (of this) comes from food such as biscuits, muesli bars … there is very little vegetables or protein foods, even dairy, in school lunch boxes.

“Given the number of days children spend at school, the quality of the lunch boxes really could make a significant difference in improving children’s diet quality.”

Professor Golley said the concept commonplace in many parts of the world, including Japan, Norway and France, would also teach kids the value of a shared meal.

“There’s benefit too for children’s behaviour in class and their learning outcomes … by children being provided with healthy meals at school we think it will help children to concentrate in the classroom and support their learning,” she said.

“(This model) could reduce stigma of children not having lunch or having different types of foods to their peers, and help to ensure children are provided with healthy lunch options.”

Prof Golley and her team believed existing school resources, such as canteens, could be repurposed to facilitate the plan.

“We already invest in developing school food policy … this could be about repurposing current investments in a way that is perhaps more sustainable in the long term,” she said.

“There are other creative ideas as well, ranging from a community restaurant through to food trucks at school (even) models where food is prepared off site and heated onsite.”

Will we see the end of packing kids' school lunches? Cathy and Nick Apps with kids Oliver 14 and Geordie 12 on the 22nd January, 2021. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

“I would love to see it as something SA takes on – an innovative, new nutritional approach.”

A range of stakeholders, including parents, educators and food industry representatives, took park in the Thinking Outside the Lunch box study.

The plan now, to survey parents to find out how much they spend on filling their children’s lunch boxes and to ask if they’d be prepared to pay a fee to the school to supply the meals.

Malvern mum-of-four Cathy Apps is supportive.

“I love the idea … but it would have to be good, healthy meals, similar to those we would send from home,” she said.

An Education Department spokesperson said while the department was aware of different international approaches, including free lunches at school, it currently had no plans to implement the program here.

Why you need to make sure your kid’s shoe fits

As the back-to-school rush begins, UniSA podiatry experts are urging parents to get their children’s school shoes professionallyfitted or risk future feet problems.

In a newly-published paper, researchers find ill-fitting footwear can significantly impede foot movement and comfort.

The findings follow the study on the effect of shoe size on foot motion and comfort among children aged 8 to 12 years.

Lead researcher and musculoskeletal expert John Arnold said well-fitting school shoes were important for children to feelcomfortable at school.

“Thousands of school shoes are purchased every year with children wearing them for more than seven hours a day during school,” Dr Arnold said.

“If a child’s shoes don’t fit well, they’re likely to experience discomfort and pain, which can impact their participationand enjoyment of everyday activities such as play and sport.

“Importantly, our research found that when children’s shoes were too small, they restricted foot and joint movements, whichcould create problems for children’s feet in the future.”

Dr Arnold said shoes one size too small restricted the normal movement of the heel, arch and big toe joint during walking.

The study also confirmed that a comfortable shoe fit can be determined by a “rule of thumb”, where the wearer’s thumb widthfrom their longest toe to the end of their shoe is an effective and accurate measure for comfortable fit.

Co-researcher Helen Banwell agreed the importance of good-fitting school shoe shouldn’t be overlooked. - by Rebecca Baker

Kids miss out on personalised learning

Too many kids are missing out on personalised experiences when it comes to learning, according to a survey by national onlinetutoring service.

This is despite most parents facilitating other aspects of their children’s lives, including ensuring kids play the sportsthey want and wear the clothes they like.

A survey of 1000 parents by Cluey Learning has found 86 per cent say their children only participate in extra-curricular activities that are of interest to them with 85 per cent agreeing their kids’ clothing and accessories reflect their personalities.

In contrast, 88 per cent felt their child could do with more individualised attention at school with 90 per cent saying thatnow, more than ever, kids need additional learning support.

“It’s hard to reconcile that we expect such a deep level of personalisation for our everyday experiences, yet we don’t demandthe same for our children’s learning,” the service’s chief learning officer, Selina Samuels, said.

To raise awareness around the disparity, the tutoring service is offering free back-to-school haircuts for schoolchildren,through hairdressing chain, Just Cuts.

“Just as you wouldn’t expect your child to have the same hairstyle as every other student in their school, you wouldn’t expectthem to be identical learners,” Dr Samuels said.

“We hope this initiative draws attention to the benefits of personalisation in every aspect of our lives – whether that’sa haircut, a coffee order, or our children’s learning

– because it’s important our needs are met,” she said.

Other survey findings:

– 88 per cent of parents wish there was more time to go back and revise any areas their child may not have understood duringclass.

– 87 per cent of parents agree that they would love more feedback on their child’s learning progress tschool reports provide.

– 84 per cent of parents agree the pace at which their child is taught a new subject or concept doesn’t necessarily suit them

For more details on the haircut initiative, google cluey learning + haircuts. - by Rebecca Baker