Schools can't win food fight alone

But Emma Heesom, of the School Food Trust, which carried out the investigation, told EMILY-ANN ELLIOTT it is not just the responsibility of teachers to urge our children to eat healthily.

Chips, sweets, crisps and chocolate - it seems that all kinds of junk food are easily available to schoolchildren.

Last week Brighton and Hove topped the list of local education authority areas with the most takeaway and sweet shops per secondary school.

Now the School Food Trust, a Government programme which aims to transform school food, is calling on local schools to implement "stay on site"

policies to ensure pupils do not use their lunch break to buy unhealthy food.

But Emma Heesom, media manager for the School Food Trust, stresses the responsibility to encourage children to make healthy food choices does not rest solely on schools.

She said: "Let's not put all the responsibility on the schools and the local authority, it rests on the whole of the community.

"This report is just trying to open the debate. We never claimed that all children in Brighton march down to the takeaway every lunchtime. We just know that canteens are finding it difficult to compete with cheap takeaway offers."

She added: "We need to work as a community, from councillors to schools to families, to ensure our children do not grow up with problems like heart disease and diabetes."

The threat of illnesses relating to unhealthy lifestyles is very real according to Sarah Kovandzich, children's education manager for World Cancer Research Fund.

She said: "The news that Brighton and Hove has more sweet shops and takeaways per school than anywhere else in the country is a real cause for concern.

"This is because it is important that we get our children into healthy eating habits as early in life as possible.

After all, the evidence shows that being overweight and having a poor diet increases risk of cancer, as well as other chronic diseases.

"It is important that we work together to show children that eating healthily and being physically active can be fun, but this can sometimes be easier said than done."

The School Food Trust believes that "stay on site"

policies could help to reduce the temptation of junk food and that it would even be possible to implement them at larger schools, using ideas like staggered lunch breaks and taking advantage of outdoor space during summer.

Miss Heesom said: "Some parents don't know whether their children's schools have got stay on site' policies.

"But there is support from parents for them and we need to get the children on board."

One school which already operates a "stay on site" policy for its pupils is Brighton and Hove High School, in Montpelier Road, Brighton.

Wendy Fox, the school's assistant headteacher, said: "By staying in school at lunchtime, the girls are encouraged to eat a lot more healthily, rather than being tempted by the shops outside."

But the School Food Trust's report has been criticised by Brighton and Hove City Council which feels it is not a fair reflection on the city.

A council spokesman said: "This particular piece of research simply does not reflect the reality of school lunch breaks in Brighton and Hove. We're a top tourist destination, so have lots of fast food outlets.

"But our secondary schools are all in the suburbs, while the fast food outlets are mainly concentrated literally miles away in the city centre - out of reach for pupils during their lunch break."

He added: "In the areas around our secondary schools there are no more junk food outlets than in other similar urban areas around the country.

"So we do not accept that pupils here have any extra temptation to use junk food shops at lunchtime."

He added the uptake of meals in secondary schools is up month on month compared with last year, and that work has been carried out in schools, with the NHS, to promote a healthy diet and exercise.

And the work is having an effect. A recent survey by Ofsted showed 67 per cent of young people in the city eat three or more portions of fruit and veg a day normally, compared with 63 per cent nationally, and 71 per cent do sports or other activities on three or more days a week.

But Miss Heesom stressed the report is not an attack on Brighton and Hove.

She said: "We appreciate it is a popular destination, as is Blackpool which had the second highest number of outlets. Other tourist destinations like Bournemouth and Cornwall came further down the list.

"The school cooks in Brighton and Hove work really hard and we want to support schools and the local authority to make sure food on offer is tasty and nutritious."

Do schools do enough to keep children in their canteens? Leave your comments below.