10 October 2012

Food in Schools Only One Part of the Solution

A food in schools strategy is a great first step, but it should not overshadow the pressing need to address broader aspects of family poverty and healthy eating the Heart Foundation said today.

“We were encouraged to hear the Government is open to developing a national strategy for food in schools. Child hunger in our poorest schools needs urgent attention and programmes like those offered by KidsCan help fill this need,” says Heart Foundation Medical Director Norman Sharpe.

“A food in schools strategy provides direction for dialogue and debate but affordability and access to healthy food – a key determinant of child health – cannot and will not be fully solved in the school environment.”

In its submission to the Expert Advisory Group on Solutions to Child Poverty the Heart Foundation commended the intent of the group’s proposal for a national food strategy, but not just for schools, and with a proviso – it should not be just any food, at any cost.

“Our children are our future, but right now we have a shameful number of children in this country who are going without breakfast and lunch. We also have a large number of children whose development, achievement and health are suffering from a new form of malnutrition as a result of overeating. Simply put, cheap nutrient-poor high-energy diets are resulting in overweight, under nourished, underperforming kids.

“This dual burden of our children going without food and children being fed cheap “empty” calories weighs large on our nation’s future. Both forms of malnutrition pose a great threat to our children’s wellbeing; if we put the right solutions in place to solve this, then we set the pathway to greater prospects for learning and achievement.”

Professor Sharpe says responsibility to improve child health should not start and finish at the school gate and other initiatives recommended by the Expert Advisory Group must be part of the long-term solution.

“It’s a basic human right to have access to affordable nourishing food to live and thrive. Our children cannot be expected to fulfil their potential if they are deprived in this way. We challenge the Government and our society to place the highest priority on effective actions to ensure the future health and prosperity of all our children” says Professor Sharpe.

New Zealand research has found that low-income families need to spend between 23-53% of their net income and 42-75% once rent is deducted, to purchase a ‘basic’ healthy diet.

Only three out of five households in New Zealand report being almost or fully food secure – which means two out of five households in New Zealand are not. So this is a societal issue, not an individual failure.

ENDS

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