Cher Jimenez
Five local primary and secondary schools are now offering healthy lunch choices for students in compliance with the health department’s School Canteens and Other School Food Services Policy. Latrobe Community Health Service health promotion officer Alisha Brooks said until this year only one Latrobe Valley school complied with policy which uses a traffic light system to categorise food and drink options for students.
Foods categorised as green include whole foods such as fresh fruit, wholegrain breads and cereals, lean cuts of meat, legumes, canteen-made soups, and reduced fat dairy products and should represent more than 50 per cent of the menu.
Amber foods include commercially-prepared pastas, noodles, soups, meat products, cakes, dairy desserts, and fruit juice while red represents food and drinks that are typically high in kilojoules, saturated fat and salt.
Ms Brooks said the policy prevented food items categorised as red from being served during regular lunches, however, schools could limit their availability during special days and on not more than two occasions per term.
LCHS supported the schools’ lunch order supplier to alter the menu so that more than half of the items offered were green foods while the rest were amber foods. The menu does not have anything high in confectionary or sugar content.
“For this menu to comply with the policy, a few red items needed to be removed from the menu, and some ingredient changes were made in existing recipes to increase the number of green items available,” Ms Brooks said.
She said students were more alert and performed better in school when they were offered healthy food.
The lunch order menu is now available at St Gabriel’s, Tyers, Glengarry and Stockdale Road primary schools and Chairo Christian School.
St Gabriel’s Primary School is part of the Achievement Program where parents, staff and students collaborate in promoting healthier eating at lunch and snack times.
St Gabriel physical education coordinator Damian Hogan said their students performed better this year with outstanding sporting results.
Foods categorised as green include whole foods such as fresh fruit, wholegrain breads and cereals, lean cuts of meat, legumes, canteen-made soups, and reduced fat dairy products and should represent more than 50 per cent of the menu.
Amber foods include commercially-prepared pastas, noodles, soups, meat products, cakes, dairy desserts, and fruit juice while red represents food and drinks that are typically high in kilojoules, saturated fat and salt.
Ms Brooks said the policy prevented food items categorised as red from being served during regular lunches, however, schools could limit their availability during special days and on not more than two occasions per term.
LCHS supported the schools’ lunch order supplier to alter the menu so that more than half of the items offered were green foods while the rest were amber foods. The menu does not have anything high in confectionary or sugar content.
“For this menu to comply with the policy, a few red items needed to be removed from the menu, and some ingredient changes were made in existing recipes to increase the number of green items available,” Ms Brooks said.
She said students were more alert and performed better in school when they were offered healthy food.
The lunch order menu is now available at St Gabriel’s, Tyers, Glengarry and Stockdale Road primary schools and Chairo Christian School.
St Gabriel’s Primary School is part of the Achievement Program where parents, staff and students collaborate in promoting healthier eating at lunch and snack times.
St Gabriel physical education coordinator Damian Hogan said their students performed better this year with outstanding sporting results.
