Henry lets Scottish kids eat chips every day

Chips will be on the menu five days a week in Scottish schools - although they will not be deep-fried.

According to today's Scotsman, Hugh Henry, Scotland's education minister, has overruled the conclusions of an expert body of nutritionists and dentists by allowing oven chips five days a week on school lunchtime menus.

The ruling comes as part of the Scottish Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) Act, passed by the Scottish Parliament earlier this month, and decrees that deep-fried food should be served in Scottish schools no more than three times a week.

Henry has come under fire for this decision, with some claiming that oven chips can have similar levels of fat to deep-fried chips.

Others claim that children's eating habits can't be changed solely by introducing healthy foods alongside chips as there is no guarantee that children will not just eat the chips on their own.

By Christopher Walton

British Nutrition Foundation guidelines for schoolchildren>>

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