FSA diet debate calls for all parties to take responsibility

School caterers, parents, food manufacturers and advertisers need to stop blaming each other for the rise in diet- related child illness.

Instead, all parties should accept responsibility if children are to improve their eating habits. This was one conclusion reached at the Food Standards Agency's public debate - Defusing the Diet Time Bomb - attended by 500 people in London last week.

The majority of panellists, including celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson and leading nutritionist Dr Susan Jebb of the Medical Research Council, believed the Government needed to take the lead and tighten advertising regulations and invest more money in school meals.

The conference heard how the Scottish Executive has ploughed an extra £63m over three years into improving the quality of school meals. Scottish schools are using software to monitor new nutritional standards, which are more rigorous than those in England and Wales.

Worrall Thompson believed the abundant choice of food available meant that children always choose the unhealthy option. "Parents want their kids to be told what to eat at school. At least they will know they got one nutritious meal during the day," he said.

Free school meals for everyone, school allotments, and cookery classes for five-year-olds were all put forward as ways of improving children's diets.

what they said

Retired school cook Mary Turner

"In the last 20 years obesity has risen. What happened 20 years ago? They privatised the school meals service, which made it profitable. There's money in food - there's money in bad food - and our children do not have the opportunity of going anywhere else other than McDonald's or the burger van."

Margaret Richards, a mother and housewife

"Why don't schools educate children by encouraging them to grow fruit and vegetables in the school grounds? I'm sure that parent teacher associations could provide the equipment, and most schools have a piece of land they could spare."

Antony Worrall Thompson

"Free school meals? The Government will automatically say ‘We can't afford that,' but look at the cost of obesity and diabetes and all fat-related diseases on our National Health Service. I'm sure we could work something out."

John Bangs, National Union of Teachers

"I think responsibility lies with the inspection agencies and the Government. Growing fruit and vegetables for the good of the school community, along with direct sourcing from farms, should be celebrated in inspection reports. At the moment head teachers don't see that sort of thing as important, because inspectors and the Government don't see them as important."

Yinka Thomas, director of Kids Kitchen, a non-profit company

"Teaching children to cook from the time they start school would help. You can educate children to prepare healthy food and if you include the parents you can make it a family experience". (Kids Kitchen gets funding from the Department for Education and Skills and Hotpoint for supplying cooking equipment to primary schools without kitchens.)