School Fat Ban

School Fat Ban

The image of school dinners, once associated with chips stodge and stew, is going to be given a makeover.

Burgers, chips, sticky puddings and other fondly remembered food stuffs will be banned from British schools. This follows a government edict, that says that food fed to children should not contain more than 10% fat.

Ruth Kelly, the Education Secretary, will announce the plans to eradicate junk food from school canteens when she addresses the Labour conference in Brighton next month.

Experts are recommending limits on the number of times per week that ice cream, chips and other fun food will be served.

One idea is that they should be served only once a week, to try to wean children off them. The trouble with this "noble idea" is that the fat children, being targeted, eat this stuff at home all the time; there is no chance of weaning them off it, until the diet at home is changed.

Additionally, unless you lock children in the school during lunchbreaks, they will simply go out and buy chips and burgers elsewhere.

A well meaning idea, no doubt, but destined to fail.