Burger Boy - Sporty Girl

What children say about school meals

'They are saying that we are going to be the generation that are going to be overweight and that, but we can't help it, what's in our canteen.' (14-year-old)

Taste and money, the desire to fit in, peer pressure, and too many 'unhealthy' choices are some of the key factors that most affect what children choose to eat, says a new report published by leading children's charity Barnardo's. The report consists of two linked studies; the first includes interviews with 174 children and young people in nursery, primary and secondary schools in England, Wales and Scotland. The second part of the report was conducted by a qualified nutritionist from the Food Commission and forms an assessment of the nutritional value of school meals. The children's views are central to the report which supports the case that there is growing evidence of poor diet contributing to an alarming increase in childhood obesity.

Burger Boy and Sporty Girl: children and young peoples' attitudes toward food in school lifts the lid on a nation of children who accept junk food as the staple school diet and are influenced in their food choices by the media and peer-group status of high fat/high carbohydrate foods and known brands. Most children regarded their teachers and their parents as having no influence over what they eat.

'Like there are thousands of crisps (in the canteen) and you're like - we're kids - do you know what I mean. Kids don't usually like healthy food.' (14-year-old)

The children and young people interviewed by Barnardo's told of the stereotypes that are conjured up for them when they were asked to think about certain foods - the fast-food loving 'burger boy' who is naughty and watches TV all day, or the salad eating 'sporty girl' who is posh and the teacher's pet. While the young people didn't particularly want to conform to these stereotypes they were strongly aware of the expectation that they were supposed to prefer unhealthy food - thus the staple lunch box diet of white bread sandwiches, crisps and chocolate bars.

'I normally have chips, fish, pop, chocolate and crisps. I eat about six bags of crisps per day just because they are there for us.' (14-year-old)

'If we are really serious about making a difference to the food children eat in schools, we have got to start listening to what they say so that we can understand the meaning food has for them. As a society we must reclaim responsibility for what our children eat' Neera Sharma, the report's author and Barnardo's Principal Policy Officer says.

'The DfES have announced a Healthy Living Blueprint, which aims to offer schools "options and ideas" on improving the diets of children in school. But we don't believe this will go nearly far enough in making a difference to children's views. From our research, it appears that children have very fixed attitudes to foods and strong stereotypes of the type of youngsters who eat them.'

'Everyone used to call him 'chicken boy' because he would have chicken every day for lunch' 15-year-old.

Conforming to the socially acceptable junk food diet means that the diet of the nation's children during school lunch breaks is so bad that many lunches contained no fresh fruit or vegetables. Annie Seeley, Nutritionist at the Food Commission and report researcher found that none of the meals analysed met the Caroline Walker Trust school meal guidelines. In the secondary school included in the research most of the foods available were high in salt, sugar and/or fat and this was reflected in the young people's food choices.

'From our research the vast majority of foods on offer throughout the day in secondary schools were unhealthy according to Government guidelines. If they really want to help schools increase their healthy food provision and reduce children's access to unhealthy foods they need to implement stronger policies and guidelines backed up by funding. ,' adds Annie Seeley, from the Food Commission.

Barnardo's study shows children and young people are influenced by their peers and that the school environment has a key role to play in their choice of food:

The obesity-causing environment has infiltrated schools, with fast food and vending machine food freely available - particularly in secondary schools. Children have stereotypes of the type of young people who eat certain foods - hence the naughty 'burger boy' and the posh 'sporty girl'. Food advertising is influential in persuading children to choose certain products. When accompanied with peer pressure and 'food fashion' this can lead to children being stigmatised for eating own brand products or even bullied for eating 'un-cool' food.

As a result of the research, report author and Barnardo's Principal Policy Officer, Neera Sharma highlights the changes that Barnardo's is calling for:

Vending machines selling sugary or fatty foods and fizzy drinks must be phased out from schools, as is the case in Scotland and Wales.
The provision of all food in schools to be inspected by OFSTED
The DFES to review schools funding so schools are not reliant on sponsorship from manufacturers of unhealthy foods.
Funding for school meal provision to be ring fenced so that a minimum amount is spent per child, per meal.
The Government to ensure that the Food Standard's Agency recommendations on the balance of less healthy food are properly implemented. These include setting criteria for levels of salt, sugar and fat in foods promoted to children.
The current National Nutritional Standards should be improved by Government to meet the Caroline Walker Trust Guidelines.