Aspiring young chefs from 11 Hawke's Bay schools keen to spread the eat healthy message will be vying for prizes at the second annual Harold's Healthy Lunchbox competition being staged at the EIT's School of Hospitality on Saturday.

Teams of four from five primary schools and six intermediates will set out to create and cook a healthy lunchbox of food which will be judged by EIT's School of Hospitality chef tutor Korey Field.

The competition is being staged by Life Education Hawke's Bay as part of its child health and well-being programme. It will get under way at 9am and run for three hours.

"It is a great way to engage with the kids and get them involved with food in a practical way - to show that everyone can do it," Life Education Hawke's Bay's educator mentor Carol Bevis said.

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"Last year's competition was very successful and gave a really healthy message."

The Hawke's Bay branch of the national Life Education Trust was the first to stage such an event and it has caught national attention, with national chief executive officer John O'Connell set to attend Saturday's healthy cook-up with a view to turning it into a countrywide event across 33 of the trust's regions.

The plan would then be for all the regional winners to take part in a national final.

The name of the competition comes from the trust's mascot - a giraffe called Harold who eats healthy food and loves to spread the message about a good diet to youngsters everywhere.