Healthy meals a favourite for North East pupils

Jul 11 2009 by Nicola Juncar, The Journal

MORE pupils in the North East are taking advantage of healthy school meals than any other region in the country.

When the government made it compulsory for schools to dish out healthy dinners, following a campaign led by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, some were concerned it would lead to children eating elsewhere.

However, new national figures just out reveal the take-up of school meals is increasing.

What’s more, the North East region has seen the largest increase than any other part of the country, outside London.

County Durham and Stockton local authorities both reported a marked improvement in school food take-up across primary and secondary schools. South Tyneside, Northumberland, North Tyneside, Gateshead, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Sunderland reported rises in at least one school level.

School food take-up has increased nationally. But schools in the North East are outstripping the rest of England with 50.8% of primary school pupils and 41.4% of secondary school pupils now eating school meals. This beats the national average which shows 43.9% of primary and 36% of secondary schools have pupils who eat school lunches.