Announcing the plans on a visit last week to the Rainbow Family Centre in Port Glasgow, first minister Jack McConnell said, 'By the end of the year every primary school should have new standards for school food in place. We will also have similar guidelines for pre-school education centres, because if we are to teach our children good eating habits that will stay with them for the rest of their life, we must start early.'
The Scottish Executive said it had already introduced free fruit programmes for all Primary One and Two children.
Other parts of the scheme include a 600-strong Active Schools Staff network, with 24m funding to develop new ways of getting children to take part in regular exercise, including activity such as dance, rather than just sport.
Concerns over the health of nursery-age children were raised last year when Government figures showed that more than one in five (21 per cent) of three-year-olds were overweight, while 9 per cent were obese and 4 per cent were severely obese.
Mike Lean, professor of human nutrition at University of Glasgow, welcomed the introduction of dietary standards in early years centres. He said, 'We have waited a long time for them. They are now being introduced in Scotland this year, but England still lags behind.'
He said that the main problem was that poor dietary habits established in the early years could create problems in later life. 'The problem is not with children; it is with adults. There is not a big health problem with children, but the concern is that they run into difficulties in later life.'
Some commentators have said that strict guidance on healthy eating could impinge on freedom of choice. But Professor Lean pointed out that Unicef asserts children's right to a healthy upbringing but does not mention choice.
Encouraging physical activity outside school was the biggest challenge, according to Professor Lean. 'If you walk to school as a child, then you are more likely to do exercise as an adult,' he said, adding that out-of-school activities could include rambling and that parents and carers of pre-school children should not be scared of expecting them to walk four or five miles at a sensible pace.
A spokesman for the Scottish Out of School Care Network (SOSCN) said out-of-school clubs had a vital role to play in providing children and young people with the opportunities to be active in an informal setting and helping them follow a healthy diet. Although breakfast clubs usually provided a healthy meal of cereal and toast, he said, after-school clubs often saw bulk-buy biscuits as an easy and cheap option.
'We need to look at bringing in fruit, but there can be problems with cost or access to storage,' the spokesman said.
SOSCN has been awarded a grant of 59,000 by the Scottish Executive to deliver a new healthy activities resource folder to all out-of-school clubs in Scotland. The British Heart Foundation's Active Club Activities Pack comprises more than 100 activities, a tutor training guide and supplementary information.
SOSCN is soon to provide free training workshops throughout Scotland. For further information contact it on 0141 564 1284.
