Parents get helping hoof from Healthy Harold as ‘heat and serve’ canteens spark kids’ diet fears

School canteens are increasingly struggling to make lunches both healthy and economically viable, and with fewer volunteers on hand some are shutting up shop altogether.

School canteens are increasingly struggling to meet profit margins and find the staff necessary to make nutritious food options viable, putting more pressure on parents to prepare healthy lunches for their kids when canteens are shuttered.

Healthy Kids Association head of nutrition Shadia Djakovic said canteens which can’t afford fresh ingredients or find volunteers able to prepare them are more likely to resort to quick, cheap ‘occasional’ foods like sausage rolls for hot lunch offerings, because there are few mass-produced healthy alternatives in NSW – unlike in the ACT where government grants will soon help fund healthy meals at a commercial scale.

“The biggest issue we see between pre-pandemic and post-pandemic is that it’s harder to find staff,” Ms Djakovic said.

“If the school canteen can only operate on a heat and serve basis, they can’t get nutritious food to students as easily but they can put sausage rolls and pies in a warmer and sell them at high profit margins.”

Students at Freemans Reach Public School started Term 3 with no canteen amid multiple call-outs for parent volunteers, while schools like Hornsby Heights, Kurrajong and Wollondilly are operating for only a couple of days each week.

Healthy Harold and Life Ed educator Alana Masi, with Surveyors Creek Public School students Aaron Sulsters (8), Cooper Nightingale (10), Hanna Franzke (10) and Isla Dearie (8). Picture: Adam Yip

The decline of P&C canteens comes as educators and health experts put renewed focus on convincing kids to help their parents serve up healthy school lunches instead.

The charity behind iconic Aussie children’s mascot Healthy Harold has launched a new program,sponsored by health food company Sanitarium, which Life Ed Professional Learning Manager Lisa Woodward said aims to turn “pester power” for chocolate bars and chips into asking for an apple instead.

‘The Inside Story’ is a new Healthy Harold program aimed at equipping kids to make healthier food choices. Picture: Adam Yip

“We have real problems with young people now with rising rates of obesity, and issues around nutrition, physical activity, too much screen time,” Ms Woodward said.

“We can pretty safely say that every kid in Australia needs education on nutrition.”

Sanitarium’s national survey revealed that 46 per cent of parents of primary school-aged kids are worried about their children’s weight and physical size, but two thirds are concerned about academic performance and more than 90 per cent say mental health is a major concern. Dietitian Trish Guy said food choices have a huge impact on both.

“The research is increasingly showing that the foods we eat … impact mental health and mood, but also academic performance and kids’ ability to concentrate and learn at school,” she said.