Communication is vital to improving knowledge and attitudes towards nutrition and healthy lifestyles. Different campaigns help to reinforce the important messages:
- ‘5 a day’ message
- Free fruit for schools policy (funded stopped 2006)
- Are you packing a healthy Lunch?
- Sure Start
- Eating well for Students
Mothers' concerns about healthy eating
- Say they know what a healthy diet is but don’t know how to make it attractive.
- Think they would have to reject whole categories of food (e.g. dairy products, sugar and carbohydrates).
- Regard eating healthily as unattainable. Token gestures are sometimes made.
- React to immediate concerns about diet e.g. obesity and dental health but not longer term consequences e.g. diabetes, heart disease.
(Ofcom, 2004)
Education is not enough
- Although 94% had been taught about the benefits of healthy eating only 54% said this helped them make healthy choices.
- Two thirds of pupils had access to vending machine selling sugary fizzy drinks and chocolate. Most had alternatives to sugary drinks (mostly fizzy water) but only 32% had alternatives to chocolate.