The NHS reports that around a quarter of children aged two to 15 are overweight or obese.
Being overweight or obese can affect both children’s physical and mental health. It increases the risk of conditions such as cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes, and can lead to lifelong issues with low self-esteem.
We also know that children who are overweight are more likely to be overweight as adults. In turn, obesity in adulthood raises the risk of developing a number of chronic diseases and some cancers.
Childhood obesity is something we, as educators, should be concerned about.
Deprivation and childhood obesity
The prevalence of childhood obesity among the most deprived groups is approximately double that of the least deprived.
A number of factors contribute to this link. For those on the lowest incomes, the cost of a healthy diet can represent almost three quarters of their disposable income. Less healthy foods tend to be cheaper, too.
In addition, deprived areas tend to offer higher exposure to fast food outlets and fewer opportunities to be active.
Reducing childhood obesity isn’t just about cutting down on calories, though. It’s also about the quality of the diet. This is especially the case for children who are growing and developing.
It’s important, therefore, that children have a healthy, balanced diet at home, outside the home and at school.
And it is at school that teachers and school senior leadership teams can make a difference. We can do this through the curriculum as well as by ensuring the food children get at school is sufficient and healthy.
If we provide children with good food education, it can give them the knowledge and skills to be in charge of making healthier decisions in the future.
Get everyone involved
The key to boosting healthy eating among pupils is to adopt a whole school approach. The current childhood obesity crisis is, at least in part, down to our obesogenic environment. To tackle this, we need to create healthier environments across many different sectors.
One of these examples is in school. Children spend a significant proportion of their lives and eat at least one, possibly more, meals a day there.
Expert advice
So, what can be done to ensure your school environment supports both health, wellbeing and learning about food?
The British Nutrition Foundation’s Characteristics of good practice in teaching food and nutrition education in primary schools document offers detailed guidance.
The publication sets out a series of characteristics of good practice with regard to teaching food in UK primary schools through a whole school perspective. They are designed to be easy to adopt as part of a good practice approach by all those who teach food in primary schools.
The guide centres on nine characteristics which make a useful starting place for schools to start:
- Developing professional competence
- Taking a whole school approach
- Teaching the curriculum
- Running practical food lessons
- Establishing good food hygiene and safety practices
- Developing food skills
- Exploring where food comes from
- Applying healthy eating
- Making informed choices
The guide builds on these tips, demonstrating how different people within the primary school set-up can work together to ensure each is met.
In the face of a growing childhood obesity epidemic, it’s essential to teach children how to eat healthily. There are many ways you can ensure your class is a fun, vibrant and effective learning environment for children, to ensure they have the opportunity to develop the >knowledge and cooking skills to make healthier choices.
How to tackle childhood obesity in school
- Create a whole school approach! Make sure food education is embedded in the health and wellbeing agenda of the whole school. You can achieve this through the development and implementation of policies, promotion and enforcement and ensuring that the food teaching reflects the curriculum.
- Build in progression. Give children the opportunity to continually develop and build upon their food skills and knowledge. They should be able to prepare, cook and serve a range of dishes hygienically and safely. Children love improving their skills, so having the opportunity to make more complex dishes and learn more about healthy eating can be really motivating and rewarding.
- Give pupils the opportunity to cook! Let pupils try out new skills by preparing, cooking or assembling non-cook recipes at school. (Ensure that all practical food preparation and cooking lessons are delivered in a hygienic, safe and organised way.)
- Put healthy eating knowledge into practice. Give pupils the opportunity to apply their healthy eating knowledge and their awareness of consumer preferences and the reasons for food and drink choices. You can integrate this into your schemes of work, or give pupils other opportunities to show what they have learnt in a cross-curricular way. This might include talking about reasons for food choice in a Religious Studies class or writing about healthy eating in an English lesson.
- Act as a role model. Bring your enthusiasm and knowledge to the food room. You need to be confident when teaching about food, so do ensure you stay up to date with your professional development. It always helps to take an interest in developing your own knowledge and skills.
Alex White is a Nutrition Scientist for British Nutrition Foundation. Find out more at foodafactoflife.org.uk.
