Interview - Roy Ballam

You’ve just launched nutrition training aimed specifically at primary school teachers. Why?

Primary school teachers play a very important role in helping shape children’s initial food understanding. It is critical that they have access to the right resources to help them effectively deliver nutrition education.

Last year, our research with primary teachers revealed that seven in ten had not undertaken any professional development in ‘food’ during the past two years. For those who had, the update had been on food safety only. This low level of food training continues in initial teacher training, with the D&T Association reporting that, during the training year, at best a trainee teacher might receive around three hours of design and technology study – with food just one module.

With no formal professional support provided centrally, primary schools and teachers take on the responsibility to interpret and deliver the curriculum in their own way. This risks conflicting or misleading messages in schools. To combat this, the BNF has collaborated with Public Health England and the DfE to launch professional guidelines for primary teachers in line with the curriculum and the knowledge and skills to teach food and nutrition.

Our online training ‘Teaching food in primary: the why, what and how’ will help address the gap in provision, ensuring that teachers can easily access up-to-date, evidence-based information to support their lessons.

How can early years settings support young families to enjoy a healthy lifestyle?

Practitioners can play an important role in providing correct nutritional information. The BNF has a number of resources on its website that include nutrition and diet guidance to help families, and articles tailored specifically for toddlers [http://bit.ly/2pnBxKD] and pre-school children [http://bit.ly/26jmGNL].

The BNF is part of the Early Years Nutrition Partnership, which provides useful materials to help early years settings support young families.

What should the Government do to tackle the childhood obesity crisis?

Links between physical activity, health and diet should frequently be highlighted. The BNF would also like to see food and nutrition education included in the Obesity Plan. All teachers should receive training in relevant aspects of nutrition and have an understanding of the important role they play in supporting the health and well-being of children.

We believe this should be through initial and continuing professional development, and the training should follow the food teaching guidelines developed by Government, with the BNF, in 2015. Ofsted inspectors should also be given the opportunity to refresh their knowledge of food and nutrition to help strengthen their judgement in schools.

The BNF celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. What should the foundation’s focus be for the next 50?

That’s a tricky one to predict! Nonetheless, our core focus will always be to make nutrition science accessible to all; promoting understanding of nutrition and health, and contributing to improved wellbeing for all.

The Foundation would also like to progress its work within schools by providing support for both teachers and learners, and promoting good teaching through the use of excellent materials.

It is fundamentally important to keep on top of the latest research, so the BNF will continue to work with a range of stakeholders to help the team understand the latest developments; as well as increasing the Foundation’s skills in how we can appropriately communicate ways to help people lead healthy, active lifestyles. The BNF will be presenting more on this topic at an event in October in London.