School tuck shop overhaul needed to prevent mental illness and learning problems
POOR food choices are setting kids up for years of physical and mental health problems — now nutritionists are pushing for schools to intervene before it’s too late.
Education
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JUNK food sold in Victorian school canteens is contributing to students’ mental health conditions, learning difficulties and even underdeveloped brains, leading nutritionists warn.
In partnership with the Victorian Government, Nutrition Australia is pushing for healthier primary and secondary school tuck shops, warning they could set children up for years of poor physical and mental health.
Amid concerns schools are reinforcing poor diets at home, Nutrition Australia is launching the FoodChecker website to enable schools to check the nutritional content of the food they sell and overhaul their menu.
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The push comes after Deakin University research found diets high in junk food affected areas of the brain connected to mental health, memory and learning.
Prof Felice Jacka, director of Deakin’s Food and Mood Centre, said the diets of children and adolescents was clearly related to their mental health.
It was vital to intervene at school canteens because half of anxiety and depression disorders started before the age 14.
“If these unhealthy food products are normalised by being there during school days it sends all the wrong sorts of messages,” Prof Jacka said.
“The quality of young people’s diets is relevant to their mental health and also their ability to learn and remember. So it is critical we get this right.”
Prof Jacka said sugary foods at lunch breaks could have an immediate effect on concentration and energy.
However, longer-term concerns were revealed in a 2015 Deakin study that found people with diets high in junk and processed foods had smaller hippocampus regions of their brain — the area controlling learning, memory and mental health — than those with healthier diets.
With other research indicating 99 per cent of Australian children do not eat enough vegetables, Nutrition Australia’s Margaret Rozman said schools must stop inundating students with unhealthy options in their tuck shops.
“To have healthier food and drinks can actually help students learn and concentrate better,” Ms Rozman said.
“We know schools — especially secondary schools — often outsource their canteens, so they are giving that responsibility to someone else and they often are not embedding the need to provide healthier foods in the contracts.”
Schools such as Ivanhoe East Primary have used FoodChecker to review canteen menus and gain professional nutrition advice on healthier options.
The website classifies common ingredients and brands using a traffic light system to help schools replace unhealthy options or serving sizes.
Health Minister Jill Hennessy said healthy eating could make a world of difference to a student’s health, happiness and focus at school, which is why schools were being provided more information to make better choices about the products they offer.
“Proper eating is always about getting the balance right, but making just the smallest changes to a child’s diet can make a big difference to their health, wellbeing and performance in the classroom,” she said.
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