Obesity experts want more affordable healthy options at schools

The push to get kids to eat healthy hits a snag when most canteens charge more for nutritious meals, our analysis has found. Should salads be cheaper than pastries? Have your say.

Nutrition and childhood obesity experts are calling for healthy food to be made more affordable after an analysis by The Daily Telegraph found most school canteens charge higher prices for the most nutritious options.

An analysis of menus at 38 schools with healthy canteens found 34 offering salads. Of those, 24 were offering unhealthy hot foods like meat pies and sausage rolls for cheaper than the salad. Only five school canteens charged less for salads, or didn’t offer unhealthy hot snacks at all.

Some schools were charging twice as much for their healthiest option, including Smiths Hill High School in Wollongong, where the cheapest salad or wrap is $5.50 but noodle cups and sausage rolls cost $2.80 and $3.50 respectively. At Dubbo College’s south campus, salads cost between $5 and $6.50 but a noodle cup is only $2.50.

At Toronto High School near Lake Macquarie “red” items on the hot food menu cost between $1 for a hash brown and $4.20 for a meat pie, while salads are priced at $6.50 to $8.

Statewide, 1623 public schools have a canteen and only 82 are failing to meet the government’s requirement that canteens stock 25 per cent or less “occasional” items, down from 167 in July last year.

Sausage rolls and noodle cups are cheap as chips, but salads are among the priciest options at many school canteens. Picture: iStock

However, the Healthy Canteen Strategy doesn’t stipulate product costs. An Education Department spokesman said canteens are given “clear guidance” to ensure everyday items are reasonably priced.

“Some school canteens are able to offer healthy options that they have grown and made, giving them greater control of price and in-season ingredients,” the spokesman said.

Childhood obesity researcher Professor Louise Baur said one in four Australian children are either overweight or obese.

“We have higher prevalence of obesity among kids – and adults – in western and southwestern parts of Sydney than in the eastern and northern suburbs,” Professor Baur said.

“If you experience social disadvantage, you’re much more likely to be affected by obesity. That’s to do with family income (and) education, (and) if you’re a migrant or of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background … those put you in a higher risk category.”

International studies have found subsidising the cost of healthy snack options such as carrots and cucumbers results in much higher uptake among students, she said.

“I would certainly love to see the subsidy of healthy food options in school canteens,” she said.

10-year-old Christina Cantwell says she would happily choose salads from her school canteen if they were cheap. Picture: Julian Andrews

University of Sydney professor of public health nutrition Tim Gill said canteens play a huge role in modelling healthy eating, especially for young children who don’t eat well at home.

Reducing unhealthy menu options “sends a really clear message that high-fat, high-salt, high-sugar foods, (are) not something you should have often,” Prof Gill said.

Concord mum Kanella Cantwell lets 10-year-old daughter Christina buy lunch and snacks from the Concord Public School canteen once a week as a treat.

Christina’s favourite order is the tuna and cucumber sushi, a nice change from her usual ham or Nutella sandwich but the price is steep at $7 for two rolls.

“If I had more children, I would think it’s a bit expensive,” Mrs Cantwell said.

“If they were $1 or $2, we’d be buying them every day.”

Christina said if salads were that cheap, she would likely buy those instead.

“It would probably depend on what’s in the salad – if it was something yummy like lettuce or cucumber or olives I would (buy it),” she said.