Written question asked by Andrew Rosindell (Conservative) on Tuesday, 1 November 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 3 November 2005. It was answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern (Labour) on Wednesday, 9 November 2005 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Childrens' Diets

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps the Government is taking to ensure young children are eating a well-balanced diet.

Answer: The Department for Education and Skills announced a package of measures in March 2005 to improve school food and good progress has been made. Elements of the package include: (i) the School Meals Review Panel which published its report containing recommendations for new nutritional standards for school lunches. The consultation period runs until 31 December 2005 and finalised standards will be announced in the new year; (ii) an independent School Food Trust which is currently being set up to support schools making the transformation to healthy meals; (iii) the new Ofsted inspection framework which will expect schools to present evidence about their general approach to food and healthy eating; (iv) and from September 2005, the ‘Healthy Schools' programme which has included healthy eating as a key element, which schools will need to address to reach the National Healthy Schools' standard.The recently published ‘Choosing Health White Paper' also sets out a number of actions to improve nutrition and physical activity levels, particularly among children and to reduce obesity.Finally, the Department of Health's Food in Schools Toolkit provides guidance/resources to help schools deliver a whole school approach to healthier food and drink. A similar toolkit has recently been published by the Food Standards Agency for school Governors; and a Parents Toolkit has been published by the DfES.

Secondary information