NSW Government School Canteens Going Strong

24/02/2021 Advice for teachers, Canteen Advice, Canteen Corner, Help for Parents, Uncategorized

The NSW Healthy School Canteen Strategy (the Strategy) was introduced at the beginning of 2018 so that more healthy food and drink options are available to children around the state on a daily basis.

How are we going?

As of November 2020, an amazing 90% of NSW Government schools with a canteen had passed a canteen menu check, meaning that these schools have menus in line with the criteria of the Strategy. In 2021, many are approaching their 2-year menu check, which will help maintain healthy canteen menus around the state.

What does this mean?

The criteria of the Strategy is based on the Australian Dietary Guidelines and the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating. By canteen menus being made up predominantly of foods and drinks that fall within the 5 food groups, children are encouraged to choose options and are more likely to meet their daily recommended number of serves.

Why does this matter?

By implementing the Strategy in NSW school canteens, it will help to reduce the number of children in the state that sit above a healthy weight and help them to set the foundation for healthy eating habits for life. In turn, this can help to prevent the students’ chance of developing chronic diseases such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes later in life.

Whilst only Government schools are required to meet the NSW Healthy School Canteen Strategy, we encourage Catholic and Independent schools to get on board as well.

For more information on the NSW Healthy School Canteen Strategy, click here.

Thank you to Georgia Olivieri, Healthy Kids Volunteer, for contributing to this blog post.