10.1 Hungry for Success has been successful in meeting many of its aims. Implementation of its recommendations has resulted in notable improvements in the quality of school meals in Scotland. Improvements in the nutritional quality of meals have been accompanied by greater encouragement and opportunity for pupils to eat more healthily. Almost all schools inspected had also increased their focus on healthy eating within the curriculum, resulting in benefits to pupils’ awareness and understanding of basic principles of nutrition. LAs had made good use of their experiences of implementing Hungry for Success in primary and special schools in taking forward implementation in secondary schools.
The successes of Hungry for Success |
Examples of good practice will be made available at www.hmie.gov.uk |
10.2 This report has also highlighted significant aspects where further improvements are needed. Some of these are set out below as recommendations for all LAs and schools to consider. In several aspects, however, and allowing for the later date for secondary schools to meet the recommendations, secondary schools needed to give greater priority and urgency to Hungry for Success. For example, less than half of the dining rooms in secondary schools actively promoted and encouraged the uptake of vegetables, salad and fruit and a similar low proportion had removed salt from dining tables. Many secondary schools continued to sell home baking and confectionery before the start of the school day. The cramped quality of dining accommodation was a greater issue in secondary schools, yet no secondary school inspected had introduced flexible arrangements for the lunch break to address this issue.
10.3 To improve the consistency of effective practice LAs should continue to work, in partnership with their schools, to ensure:
10.4 Schools should:
10.5 A wider question is whether Hungry for Success, even if implemented consistently and well, will by itself have the desired outcomes for Scotland’s children and young people and create a healthier Scotland. Significant challenges remain in improving the overall health of Scotland’s children and young people. Obesity in children is now common and increasing, with nearly one in five boys and over one in ten girls aged two to 15 years identified as obese. The Obesity in Scotland report5 noted that the decline in daily levels of physical activity and the rise in sedentary lifestyles are seen as important factors contributing to the obesity epidemic. The activity levels of many children and young people are too low across childhood and 59% of secondary pupils report that they take no part in physical activity outwith secondary classes6. Yet young people who participate in regular exercise and sport are less likely to become overweight. They often develop increased interest in following a healthy diet as part of overall commitment to a healthy lifestyle. Hungry for Success is most effective when it is reinforced by other strategies, including the expectation that all schools should provide at least two hours of good quality physical activity for each child every week, and more if possible, by 2008. Strategies to provide sufficient opportunities for all young people to develop skills in practical food preparation are also vital in encouraging them to develop confidence in using a range of fresh food to prepare healthy meals.
10.6 Hungry for Success aimed to improve nutrition through improvements to school meals. It adopted a sound approach which made available healthier menus for pupils and worked towards their long-term education for healthy eating. Implementation of Hungry for Success has not provided comprehensive information about what pupils actually eat at school lunches — as some may leave food or regularly select less healthy choices. Moreover, around 54% of pupils choose not to take school meals, and data on the percentage of pupils taking school meals has shown that uptake overall has remained fairly steady since the introduction of Hungry for Success. In addition, many of the pupils who do take school lunches supplement these with other food during the school day. There is a need to get a clearer picture, through research, of what children and young people actually eat over the course of a day.
10.7 This research should be accompanied by a widespread and informed debate, with parents as key stakeholders, about nutrition for young people. Our views as a society on limitations to choice in relation to nutrition for young people need to be considered. The current government pilot of providing free school meals for all P1 to P3 pupils in five LAs seeks to influence choice and improve uptake through financial incentive. National guidance also affects choice, for example by reducing the frequency of availability of less healthy options. Many schools have attempted to influence pupil choice through, for example, education about healthy eating, through presenting healthier foods more attractively or by providing them free or at reduced cost. Some schools have taken further steps to limit choice, for example by banning sweets or fizzy drinks or by seeking parental agreement to keep pupils within the school at lunchtime or by providing advice on the contents of packed lunches. Such initiatives were controversial with some parents, yet it is likely that further limitations on choice will be necessary if nutrition issues are to be addressed for all children.
10.8 Secondary schools, in particular, are dealing with greater challenges in changing food provision and increasing uptake of school meals because of the freedom of choice available to secondary aged pupils, and the ready access that they often have to local food outlets. Baseline research7, commissioned at the start of implementation of Hungry for Success, identified that almost half of secondary pupils in the sample of schools visited expressed a preference to go out of school for lunch. Local food outlets and vans do not have to comply with the nutritional standards that have been set for school meals. Some councils had begun to review local licensing regulations for mobile food outlets. It would be helpful to schools if a clear policy framework emerged from a debate about national expectations in relation to nutrition.
10.9 Implementation of the Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Act, 2007 provides part of such a framework. It is aimed at bringing about further improvements in food provision in schools as part of overall health promotion. The Act places expectations on LAs and schools in relation to health promotion and the provision of food and drink. All food and drink provided in schools, including food and drink provided outwith lunch, will have to comply with nutritional requirements. LAs will also be required to promote school lunches
and encourage their uptake. This latter requirement is particularly important, as children and young people will not benefit from nutritional improvements to school meals if they choose to eat elsewhere at lunchtime.
10.10 At the other end of the age spectrum are our youngest children. Where healthy eating habits, tastes and preference are developed early and as part of a social experience, they are more likely to persist. The work of early years centres in promoting healthy eating and working closely with parents and carers to influence the development of nutrition needs to have a higher profile in national developments on nutrition.
10.11 In the review8 of the implementation of the Scottish Diet Action Plan, which had set targets to be achieved by 2005, the impact of Hungry for Success in leading to improvements in food provision in schools was recognised. The panel that undertook the review suggested that Scotland’s future priorities should be to build on existing work and achievements in schools and improve children’s diets. Improvements in food provision in schools have influenced many pupils to make healthier choices. Often pupils interviewed during inspections noted their desire to emulate the healthier meals eaten in school in their eating patterns at home.
10.12 While work in schools can make a significant contribution to improving the diets of children and young people, eating patterns outwith school also need to change. The respective responsibilities of parents, shopkeepers and food outlets, food manufacturers, and elected representatives to the promotion of healthy eating are important in achieving change. In its conclusion, the Review of the Scottish Diet Action Plan noted that "to shift the entire food system in a more health-enhancing direction will take time". It also expressed the view that "government must be prepared to be bold on food and health issues, without waiting for the rest of the UK", and recognised "the strong commitment to cross-government action to improve health and sustainability as well as a strong political will to achieve health improvements". The good work and achievements described in this report need to be continued and extended to secure the necessary improvements in the eating patterns of Scotland’s children and young people.
What further actions and improvements are required?
10.13 The Scottish Government should consider the following as part of its strategies to improve the health of Scotland’s children and young people.
Looking ahead
10.14 Guidance and support will be provided for LAs and schools to assist them in fulfilling their duties as required by the Act. In preparing the nutritional regulations, account has been taken of LAs’ experiences in implementing the Scottish Nutrient Standards for School Lunches. LAs will be advised on approaches to menu analysis to ensure that the data will be accurate and reliable for use in self-evaluation and that the issues related to menu analysis, identified in earlier sections of this report, will be addressed.
10.15 HMIE will be involved in monitoring the implementation of the Act. Inspections will build on the activities that inspection teams undertook to evaluate aspects of health promotion and the implementation of Hungry for Success. They will focus particularly on the impact of actions taken by schools and LAs to improve food provision in schools and the uptake of food provided. Self-evaluation by schools and LAs will continue to be important in measuring impact, identifying effective practice and securing continuous improvement.