Hearty lunches for growing minds

ANDREW GORRIE/ The Dominion Post

FOOD IN A MINUTE: Tucking into healthy lunches are, from left, five-year-olds David Elekana and Aye Say Maung. They both go to go to Glenview School in Porirua, which has just won the Heart Foundation's Healthy Heart Gold Award.

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Children at Porirua's Glenview School are more likely to be spotted eating an apple than a bag of lollies or greasy potato chips.

The pupils, who have just won a national award for their healthy eating ways, grow their own vegetables at school and junk food is banned.

The Porirua primary school has won the Heart Foundation's Healthy Heart Gold Award for its efforts – the first school to achieve the foundation's highest award since it introduced stricter standards this year.

The voluntary programme was designed to promote healthy eating and reduce heart disease.

Foundation health promotion co-ordinator Sian Bliss was welcomed with an emotional powhiri by pupils yesterday. She said the school had done exceptionally well to gain the gold award so quickly. "They're a great little school."

Five-year-old David Elekana was munching on a chicken, tomato and lettuce sandwich almost as big as his face for lunch yesterday.

Aye Say Maung, 5, was nibbling on a ham sandwich and said apples were her favourite food.

The school had to fulfil four criteria: healthy eating must be part of the curriculum, food sold at school has to meet Heart Foundation guidelines, there has to be an active pupil body promoting the initiatives and the school needs to promote healthy eating in the wider community.

The school has a $2 lunch special every Friday. Yesterday pupils lined up for lasagne from the school's kitchen, and kiwifruit wedges.

Each pupil receives a piece of fruit a day through a government-funded scheme for lower decile schools.

The school confiscates foods that are too fatty, sugary or salty – such as lollies, fizzy drinks, chocolate biscuits and potato chips – and replaces them with a piece of fruit and a sandwich.

Principal Pauline Thomas said it had not confiscated junk food for several years because parents knew not to send their children to school with it. "We've always had really good parental support for our healthy foods. I think parents do understand why we're doing it."

Ms Bliss said it was not really policed in the traditional sense, but staff ate with the children at the start of breaks and discussed healthy options.

Mrs Thomas said preparing healthy food was just as affordable as junk food but took a bit more effort. "It is not a matter of cost, it's a matter of having the will in the school to carry it through. It's become part of ... our culture."

- © Fairfax NZ News