KEY POINTS:
Here is an earlier selection of comments:
Louise Curley (Auckland)
Selling only healthy food at school tuck shops may not wholeheartedly solve obesity problems in New Zealand, but a move to help change attitudes and habits towards food has to be made. Even if it only stops 10 kids a day at each school from buying junk to eat, isn't that worth it. I am disgusted at different principal's attitudes towards this. They are role models for the kids, seeing them with negative attitudes towards selling only healthy foods at tuck shops isn't going to inspire the kids to jump on the bandwagon. Which makes me wonder, are the principals upset because they will have to sell food that will keep their students brains alert in class? Or are they worried that there might be a financial loss for the school tuck shop? Come on New Zealand. Nothing will change if nothing changes.
Jenny W
Walking into Wellington Railway Station on the way home last night, on a cold winter's day, I passed a secondary student munching on a rather delicious looking hot pie. It occurred to me that she probably had a healthy lunch at school earlier in the day, and may even have been destined to have a healthy evening meal. Kids will be kids - I remember at that age I had a penchant for long cream filled donuts (bought from a dairy on Manukau Road). I haven't had one for years and would probably refuse it if offered one! I think we need to be realistic about this food business.
Jada (Greerton)
Another piece of idiot totalitarianism from the super brains who brought us the anti-smacking law. And just like that piece of hand-wringing feel-good fluff it will have the same effect: nil.
David McMenamin
Nanny State should worry about the state of NCEA and the like rather than telling people what they should eat.
Great Grandma (Green Bay)
Where do the children get there money from for all their junk food? I work and can seldom afford to buy my lunches, let alone breakfasts. Healthy eating and fitness (chores even!) should begin at home. Let the tuck shops sell whatever they please. We appear to be living more and more under a dictatorship!
The One Affected, Kelsey a Student
My name is Kelsey and I am a grade 11 student. My school is right beside the local grade school, and when I walk in the halls I'm confronted with the overwhelming amount of obese students. I think that the idea of healthy food in a cafe is an amazing idea. Yes, you are going to have those that will not take to it, but for the one student that does eat healthy is it not worth it? At my school they survive the usual unhealthy foods, but that doesn't stop the kids from driving to Wendy's and other fast food places. They're going to eat it no matter what is in the cafe. But if all that they can get in the school is healthy than that means on the days that they can't go out they either have to pack a lunch or eat well. Your giving them no choice, eat well or don't, it's not the teachers having to do the work, it's the cafe workers. So what would a teacher have to do with it? I can't see a teacher making the lunches everyday. If you ask me there is nothing wrong with encouraging the students to eat well.
Mama Mia (Auckland)
Of course schools should ban rubbish and junk food. Because it only serves to fill the pockets of heartless rubbish food producers without the least concern that it causes damage to children's health. It's really absurd that such junk food can be purchased at schools in the first place, since I thought schools were supposed to teach children the difference between good and bad.
Jay
About time something was done about limiting the availability of junk food to our kids. I feel although this is a good start. We should be looking at stopping all advertising of junk food and alcohol, just as we did with cigarettes. Isn't it a known fact within our modern society that marketing works on people? Pouring millions of dollars into convincing people something tastes delicious and failing to mention the terrible impact for your health is probably a very very bad thing for us New Zealanders wouldn't you think? For those of you that are suggesting this is an attack on our children's freedom, ask yourself how long some of these kids are gonna last without expensive medical treatment and try suggesting a more effective approach to the problem (ever heard that prevention is the best cure?). It makes me wonder why it takes so long for us & our government to act on known & proven problems.
Miss W
I have to say I'm surprised at any parents suggesting the state is trying to tell them what to do. Such parents could still feel free to send their kids to school with a lunchbox full of junk food regardless of whether it's sold at school or not. Many of the obesity-risk kids stand to benefit, as they probably don't stop at dairies on their ride to school, and are likely to be too lazy to make any excursions for junk. Limiting the choices in the tuck shop will undoubtedly mean that most of its customers end up eating healthier. I'd be interested to see exactly what healthy options are proposed, though, especially hot foods. They'd also have to be a decent price. While a filled roll might be healthy, they are often small and unsatisfying.
Michael Lane (Whakatane)
I have long wondered why there is no school lunch programme in New Zealand schools. Having grown up in the US, I was able to eat a decent lunch every day in the school cafeteria. Those that were on lower incomes had their lunch subsidised by the Government. Such a programme is a better way to ensure good food at lunch time.
I think the big problem here is the obsessive clinging to the British style of education. Perhaps the Government should invest in providing a free education, maybe supply textbooks and such, and ditch all the little extra costs that are tacked on to a free education. If the government wants to further micro-manage schools let them enforce it. I for one will be encouraging my children's schools to tell the Ministry of Education to take a hike or provide more money.
Madeleine
I think this is a good idea, but will teachers still be allowed to use lollies as rewards and incentives in the classroom?
Ed (Auckland)
This year our school recently changed its menu to serve only healthy food. While the food was alright, the prices went up which was pretty dumb in my opinion. Last year you could get a drink, for example box of choc milk or coke, and pies, sandwiches or sausage rolls for $3 only (and tasted better). This year it cost us $3.50 for wedges and 2 pieces of chicken which is pretty much the main thing item people buy as everything else is over-priced. I know people who just go to the bakery or dairy to buy food in the morning as it's cheaper and can actually fill you up. I think the Goverment should make healthy food cheaper and add more attractive food to make it easier for parents and students.
CJ (Takapuna)
This food regulation in schools is noble in idea but silly in practice. Most kids travelling to school go straight past a dairy which sells a larger variety of all those 'unhealthy foods' so it wouldn't take much for children to change their purchasing habits to ensure their purchases are made prior to getting to school. Also I see there will be exceptions for sponsorships and fundraisers. If this is the case, rules will mostly likely get bent with claims that all food sold in the tuck shops or vending machines have a certain amount of the profit go for fundraisers at the school. Ironic really too that they will be banning kids from purchasing the odd bar of chocolate from school yet send the kids home with a whole box of chocolate to sell (normally consumed by the family made to sell it) in the name of fundraising.
Fiona Nicholls
Next thing they'll be telling schools what toilet paper to supply for our children's delicate skin. When do the children learn that they have to control what they eat, drink, say and do and learn the consequences from their choices.
Barbara Lloyd
As a parent who has tried to give her two children a healthy diet, over many years I have felt constantly undermined in this endeavour by various parts of the community. Schools, which sell nutritionally deficient food, and school management, who do not care about the role they have in being role models for the students they teach, are continuing to add to difficulty I have in setting limits and a good example for my children. I do not think that taking poor food out of schools will have much impact on children's health. I am irritated that schools seem to think that such a simple step is too hard and not their job. I would prefer - if it is too hard for schools to provide wholesome food - if schools got right out of food retailing.
Mother of two year old
I spend a lot of time modelling healthy behaviour and eating habits for my child. I do not want to see that undone when my daughter starts school. I support the guidelines for school tuck shops. This ensures that my child (and others) is getting a consistent message about what is best for her to eat and what is an occasional treat. And to those who say "they can buy it at the dairy". That is true, but misses the point about the consistency of the message about healthy eating habits being maintained. Schools are not dairies (which also sell cigarettes and may sell alcohol and other restricted items). We expect schools to provide positive messages to our children on other things like how to resolve conflicts. Why not on food as well?
Kirrion
I wish the Government would keep their sticky beaks out of things. They should stick to making decisions for the country instead, as they aren't that healthy to look at either. Diet is one thing but so is exercise. Look at the kids of today, some parents let them play the PlayStations after school and on the weekends. What they need is lots of walking with their parents. Some parents like to let them stay home all weekend on the internet, as long as the kids are out of their hair they're happy. Come on parents get interested it's not all about driving them around.
Stanley, Torbay.
To those who support government control on who eats what and where, stop and think about the path down which you are being led. If you still don't understand, then I suggest that you read George Orwell's 1984.
Here is the latest selection of Your Views:
Jenny MacMurray (England)
I am a Kiwi teacher living in England, and I think it is vitally important that schools provide a healthy lunch and food options. If we want to turn the next generation around to really understand and appreciate the benefits of healthy eating (not only for themselves but society) we need to start at school. In England I teach PE and the amount of children who are classed as obese is very high. Schools in England have opted for healthy options and I have seen children change their habits like bringing water to class instead of Coke. If they do not have the option of bad or good foods they will have to take the healthy option. I believe that for some children if you give them the healthy option at school at least once a day they are eating something healthy. I believe that NZ are going in the right direction in this issue. England is slowly coming round to eating better. Please continue on this road as to break the cycle you have to start with the really young.
Andrew
Why doesn't the State just take the kids away at birth and save us parents a job, as clearly they know best how to feed them, discipline them, educate them - when is state interference in our life going to end?
Derek, nutritionist
It is about time measures are taken to ban unhealthy foods in schools. In my industry (medical nutrition) we are daily having to remedy the illnesses and bad eating habits gained as children. Some of these are life-destroying. Illnesses like diabetes, asthma, and heart disease are in dramatic increase. Heart disease is becoming apparent in children younger than ten years old! Why? Mostly from unhealthy eating habits. I have frequently encountered children and young adults who do not even know what common fruits look like, and have no awareness of healthy eating. As for the supposed difficulty in determining which foods are healthy, this is purely an excuse. I would have thought that it is obvious if a particular item is healthy or not. Our schools are in the business of education. Do they think education is limited preparation for the workforce?
Jan Harris
I find it highly offensive that 17-year-olds may have their eating habits inspected and judged. They are seventeen-year-olds with minds and opinions of their own. Don't we need to respect and encourage that? New Zealand is an independent and youthful country, so why the judgemental control? I am deeply offended by this proposal. I'm not sure obesity is such a problem. It's probably based more on media-hyped ideals of slimness and beauty that on real health problems. We need role models for our precious teenagers, not control and the first place to look should be our communities and Parliament. This proposal hasn't provided that model.
Fab on the Shore
It is time we taught our children what a balanced diet is. Sugary drinks, sweets, pies and other fatty foods should be seen as a 'once in a while' food, not what one eats ever day. Unfortunately New Zealand does not value its children enough to provide healthy and nutritious school diners. Instead we rid ourselves of our responsibilities and send our kids off to school with a few coins in their pocket. Of course, given the chance, they will pick pies over filled rolls. We cannot force parents to cook healthy food, but our schools should at least lead by example.
Candi
Ross Forbes said: "In schools, teachers act in the place of parents and good parents offer healthy foods to their children."
Exactly! Good parents! Maybe the parents should be educated about the tuckshop being a "treat" and not giving their children money every day to stuff their faces with "saturated fats and high levels of sugar". Low fat and low sugar foods and drinks should be a decision and not a dictation! As a former principal I would have thought you'd know the difference between freedom of thought and autocracy.
Natasha (Auckland)
I would like to know if the Government in their infinite wisdom will bring down the price of the healthy foods, so the schools can charge a decent amount to the parents of these children that are buying the healthy options. Simply a pie is $1, healthy sandwiches, which yes my eight-year -old daughter does prefer anyway, costs anywhere from $2-3. Many parents simply cannot afford the prices that some tuck shops charge for the healthy items, so they send them along for a pie instead! This ludicrous ban is just going to have hungry children in the classroom. Make fruit & veges GST exempt and then I am sure you will find families can afford to feed their children healthily at home as well as at school and then we may start winning the fight against obesity.
Nick (Auckland)
The food police, health police, the Government just don't get it. It's not what the kids are eating (in most cases) but what they are doing. PlayStation, xBox, TV, computers etc, are the after school and weekend pastimes now for kids. PE (once an every day occurrence) is now an optional class in many schools. What's the message there? Get real all of you - its a simple equation - if you eat x amount and you burn x amount you don't get fat!
I ate pies, sticky buns, fish and chips, soft drinks and the like - I wasn't fat and nor were most of the kids I grew up with. Why? Because we played outside and did sport! Stop dictating to us!
Jeni the Best
I worked in the tuck shop as a helper when I was at high school. We sold pies, doughnuts, filled rolls, lollies, ice-creams, soft drinks. The difference today is that many children don't exercise enough, they sit in front of TV and video games 24/7 and they buy their lunch every day. For my generation it was a treat to buy lunch, and we had lots of opportunities to work off the calories. I did cross country running on Friday afternoons. Most kids were the healthy size and the fat ones? They came from families with fat parents. Schools should be in to teach not to be a nanny institution. This Government doesn't leave any choices for us.
Warren (Hamilton)
When I was a kid we had all sorts of healthy and unhealthy options to choose from. We knew that if we ate too much of the wrong type of food it wasn't good for us. Our parents taught us this. It's very true that schools are there to educate children to make decisions. The Government is once again stepping in and with giving the illusion of choice, people can only choose what the government wants them to. That's not democracy. We can't pull off at intersections too fast, we can't smack our kids, our kids can't have treats at school. What's left? Are we going to sit by while the Government takes away our liberties? We don't, we stand up and say, "No!", but the Government doesn't listen. So what's left? Who do we hold responsible for the endless nanny-state tactics?
Thank God, we have a choice to be governed in the first place, and if you don't know what I mean by that then open your mind to the concept. Thinkfree.ca is a website that will educate you on this concept.
Fat Freddy's Demise
It's about time this happened. Our nation has too much of a strong connection with obesity. We have to admit that collectively, we do not have the will power to alter our habits and this problem exists mainly amongst the younger generations. However, when we enter adulthood, we start to complain about our physique. So - if we want change but can't bring it about ourselves, why don't we let the Government help us? Or, lets shut up about how we look and stop complaining. This is a good thing. Plus, with obesity comes many other health ailments which end up costing us all.
Zak
No, I dont think that schools should have healthy lunches because kids should have a choice in what they eat and if they choose fatty food that's their problem if they get heart problems. Some schools sell healthy options anyway, so scrap the healthy diet.
Mr Jones
The Government should spend their time in addressing the real problems we have with education then trying to waste taxpayers hard-earned dollar in a mythical idealism. Trying to have a healthy outlook in our school is a myth. The reality is that education comes from the homes. It is fat homes that create fat kids. Abstinence only creates a delay in the problem. Why on earth has the local dairy got the capitalist right to sell fatty foods at a profit while schools on budgets cannot have the same freedom? Is the Government going to compensate on the loss? Let's grow up and face reality. Kids will buy food, if not at school then from other outlets. The healthy food outlook is a unequivocal loss. The advertising alone is a waste of money.
Roger
Why not educate so they understand why they are bad. My company has developed a web-based programme to educate any person who looks at this programme. We have approached MoE and they say they do not purchase or implement any resource unless there is a hole or need within education. What do they deem as a hole or need in education? Is this not serious enough? I have schools ringing me daily requesting this resource as the teachers love the programme and the children really benefit personally about nutrition, what is in the food they eat and how to create a meal plan to meet their individual requirements. I have recommendations from schools requesting this resource but they have no funding available. We even offered this to schools at $500 per year per school. (For a school of 1000 students the cost is 4 cents per month each child). This enables every child access to the programme endlessly for the year. This also included access from home computers to do home work involving the family, which is the key to attack obesity.
Vinayg (Auckland)
This is an "outrage" by the school authorities. Is it because the schools are making a profit on selling the "unhealthy food"? I think this makes for an excellent exercise in investigative journalism.
Karen Pickford
The more parental obligations we dump onto schools the less time and resources they have to educate our children. Food is for parents to deal with. Let our schools teach the 3Rs and let parents monitor their children's food choices.
Mt Albert
These moaning principals sound like spoilt children. What I'd like to hear from them is the justification for retaining junk food on school menus. Why is it so important that they continue selling sausage rolls? Those schools truly concerned with educating students will be quite happy to have their charges on slow release energy from good healthy food, rather than trying to teach students on a diet of junk food who are hyperactive one moment and lethargic the next.
Overweight Lover
I think the government made the right decision. So what if kids or their rebellious parents are going to buy unhealthy foods from dairies along the way to school for the kids lunches. Whinge, whinge, whinge; we're a nation of high pitched whingers. By taking junk food out of our schools it reinforces the message that schools are already teaching kids - that junk food is 'unhealthy'. Parents will know that their children will not be able to buy junk food at schools, and yes there will be the minority that will whinge about it, but the majority will go about their daily routines and acknowledge the changes, and it will slowly affect them in a good way.
J (Auckland)
Yet again we see our Government take a drastic step in the wrong direction. True, that what ever the Government does, someone won't like it. However, the Government should be focusing their legislating powers in other directions, policing for example. Kids will be kids. As said, its supply and demand. Schools should all have the alternative to fatty foods, most of them do. But to start dictating exactly what they can sell, and what kids can eat is saying 'we want a hand in everything'. Why should a few MP's in Parliament, who themselves love a good pie, be telling our schools how to feed and look after our kids? It is not the schools responsibility to hold our kids hands. Parents - limit money you give children. Allow tuck shop once a week? Schools - offer an alternative. Always have sandwiches, but let's not be forcing kids or schools. Schools educate.
Karen
The onus needs to be put back on the parents, not the schools. At my daughters school (primary) we have a selection of healthy and not so healthy choices. As parents we need to fill in what the child is ordering for lunch that day, along with the correct change etc. The thing is that school lunches should be a 'treat' not an every day thing.
People complain how little money they have in their pockets, but they could save a lot more if they made their kids school lunches daily instead of buying them. I know many parents (both of them) are working and it is a struggle finding the time to make lunches, but if they are made the night before it works well. Educating the parents is the answer.
Alistair (Wellington)
A question for the food police: And what warming nourishing food are schools to give in winter to replace pies? How about a nice curry? Nope. Have you seen the fat content in a curry? Ditto many noodle dishes. For that matter, if you read the sugar and fat contents of many politically correct muesli bars, you realise you'd be better off at Macca's.
Candi
Parents should be educating their children about healthy eating and teaching them about a word called "moderation".
Teachers have so much responsibility as it is, putting pressure like this on them (above and beyond what they already have) is unfair. Teaching kids, making sure they are safe, doing assignments, taking kids on outings. Having to know first aid, making sure if a child has some kind of special need that it is seen too. I mean the list goes on. But then there is the whole argument that a teacher took on this job knowing the pressures/demands and expectations that come with it. If parents are being lazy and not teaching their children responsibility who else is going too? Tough decision!
But when I was in school, I loved getting money and being able to do the tuckshop thing and spoil myself.
It was occasional and I was sporty, but then again I came from a family who ate well/healthy.
Grandma's view
I do not hold the view that poverty and obesity go hand in hand. It can be cheaper to buy meat, fish and vegetables and fruit than what it is to buy Hells Pizza's or Burgerfuel.
We use to think that organic produce was the norm. Now it is not. Education is the key to a healthy nation. I think it is a good idea that schools sell healthy food, but nothing will stop pupils stopping at the dairy on the way to school and buying rubbish providing they are out of bed early enough to do so. I also believe that physical exercise has a lot to do with obesity. Have you ever noticed the traffic surrounding schools, when once upon a time children walked, which not so many do now because parents are concerned about the safety of their children. Obesity is just one problem that needs to be addressed. The foundation of society is a non-lazy, educated family, it all starts here.
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