School Canteens
During the school years, children and adolescents are experiencing great physical, psychological and social development. To ensure that this development occurs normally, children and adolescents have energy and nutrient requirements.
School canteens and school vending machines offer food service to students between the hours of 9.00 am and 3.00 pm. Students are a captive market, who are usually unable to purchase food from external sources during the six hours they are at school. It is important for schools to realise their shared responsibility to provide nutritious food and effective nutritional education to their students.
Being a healthy school canteen has the following benefits:
- The students within your care are being provided with the nutrients they need to develop into healthy adults.
- Preventing diseases associated with poor diet, such as anaemia, osteoporosis and obesity.
- Reducing the rate of obesity is important, as obesity is linked with many other social and psychological problems.
- The students within your care are being provided with the nutritional education that can assist with the development of life long healthy eating habits.
- Parent confidence in the quality of food and beverages sold in your canteen.
- Increased profits due to the improved quality of the foods and beverages sold.
It is mandatory for NSW Government schools (from Term 1, 2005) and strongly supported and endorsed by the Catholic and Independent Education Sectors to have a healthy school canteen service for staff and students.
Latest News
Front of Pack Labelling (FOPL) has been getting a decent amount of media attention lately as the government is likely to announce its stance on the matter in response to a commissioned report and prior to the federal-state food ministers’ meeting. The push for front of pack labelling is based on...