Kids demand healthier school meals says new research

Kids want healthy food on their school menus and would eat more school meals if someone like Jamie Oliver designed them, reveals a new survey out today.

SwapitShop, the youth marketplace, asked over 1,000 youngsters aged 7 - 16 in October what they really thought of their school meals. Over 90% said they would like healthier meals at school, with 60% saying their schools were not providing them.

Other key points were:

• 80% want less fat and grease and more choice.
  
  
• 80% want tastier food
  
  
• Main complaints - greasy fatty foods, mushy vegetables, limited choice, long queues. Quotes include: 'Stop feeding us chips everyday'.
  
  
• Kids not parents choose whether they eat school meals.

The majority of kids surveyed said their schools were not delivering healthy, tasty food in a pleasant environment. Common complaints included excessively greasy and fatty food, poorly cooked vegetables and low quality food with poor taste. Kids wanted more choice including pasta, Chinese & Indian dishes, salads and fruit. Where healthy options were provided, these were of limited quantity and ran out quickly. Poor canteen facilities were also a common complaint with kids saying that they had to queue for ages.

Not getting it right:

• 'Use lower-fat cooking methods and ingredients'
  
  
• 'More vegetables in good condition not sloppy!'
  
  
• 'No queues..., queuing takes up half of my lunch break so there's no point!'
  
  
• 'Chicken dishes don't taste remotely like chicken'
  
  
• 'Semolina looks and tastes like sick'

Trying to get it right:

• 'More options than chips. In my canteen there is only enough healthy meals for 30 people out of the 700 that have meals'

Getting it right:

• 'My school food is great... free salad & veg & they put on a healthy set meal... they could advertise more about healthy food though.'

Jonathan Attwood, SwapitShop CEO, said, "The SwapitShop survey showed that kids want to eat healthier food and have more choice. Some schools have got it right and are clearly working hard to meet their customers' needs, others are way behind. Adults would not accept it, why should kids!"

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