Cash lesson for schools smart on health

Education Minister Steve Maharey and St Anne's School room 4 students Junior Sila, 9, and Lydia Nguyen, 8, with fruit. Picture / Mark Mitchell

Schools are being offered state cash to start healthy nutrition projects such as putting water filters in classrooms.

The Green Party hopes the money from the new Nutrition Fund will foster a children's food "revolution" and help control New Zealand's obesity epidemic. The obesity rate has more than doubled since 1977.

Greens health spokeswoman Sue Kedgley and Education Minister Steve Maharey announced the fund yesterday at a school that already appears to have joined the revolution, St Anne's.

The $3 million-a-year fund, secured by the Greens in their post-election agreement with Labour, is for schools and early-childhood centres to spend on projects to create a healthy food environment - such as starting a morning fruit break or promoting lower fat, lower sugar foods in school canteens.

"What we would like to see is a revolution in our tuckshops," Ms Kedgley said.

St Anne's is an integrated Catholic primary-intermediate school serving a poor area in Newtown, Wellington.

Principal Doreen O'Sullivan said she was considering applying for money from the Nutrition Fund once she had learned the details.

She said the school had already introduced healthy nutrition schemes, such as a water cooler in each classroom, fund-raisers selling bottled water instead of chocolate, and slicing up fruit.

A local bakery sells lunch food at the school, including filled rolls and sandwiches, but no pies, pizzas or fizzy drinks.

"We've been a water-only school for several years - no juice or fizzy drinks ... they can buy bottled water. Parents love it," said Ms O'Sullivan.

It was the pupils who lobbied for the water coolers at the school.

"They said: 'We find it really difficult, it's not very encouraging to run down three flights of stairs, get our shoes wet or drink hot water from the drinking fountains.

"They went to the board, the board said, 'Okay, collect some data', which they did, on how much people are drinking and the barriers.

"They came back to the board with a proposal and there wasn't any argument in it.

"We were able to do a deal with a water company at a reasonable rate. It's part of our operational funding."

Ms Kedgley said the new money would act as an incentive for schools "to clean up the food environment".

They faced financial pressures and a lack of national nutrition standards, leading to most selling poor-quality, low-nutrition food, she said.

Green Party surveys showed pies, fizzy drinks, potato crisps and oversize biscuits were still staples.

* Today, partners of delegates to the World Health Organisation meeting in Auckland will visit Wiri School in South Auckland to see the Government's fruit-in-schools scheme.

Some 27,000 children at 114 schools in poor neighbourhoods nationally are taking part in the scheme, part of the Cancer Control Strategy.

NUTRITION FUND

* $3 million annually for four years, starting in term one next year.

* Administered through district health boards.

* Applications invited from all schools and early-childhood centres.

* To help schools develop a healthy food environment.

* Possible projects: training for teachers and tuckshop managers, installation of water filters in classrooms.