Healthy Eating Policy

As part of the Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) Programme, at St. Patrick’s N.S. we encourage the children to become more aware of the need for healthy food in their lunch boxes.

What people eat is known to be a key factor influencing health. Research indicates a strong link between diet and performance (e.g. a low sugar intake promotes concentration, lessens hyperactivity, protects teeth, and lessens the risk of diabetes. A low salt intake reduces the risk of heart disease in later life).

We have promoted healthy eating in our school since Sept 2011.
A formal policy was adopted in 2017.

Aims

  1. To promote the personal development and well-being of the child
  2. To promote the health of the child and provide a foundation for healthy living in all its aspects.

Objectives

  1. To enable the child to appreciate the importance of good nutrition for growing and developing and staying healthy
  2. To enable the child to accept some personal responsibility for making wise food choices and adopting a healthy, balanced diet.

Lunch is an important meal for school-going children. It should provide one third of their recommended daily allowance of nutrients without being high in fat, sugar or salt. It should also provide dietary fibre (roughage).

The traditional packed lunch of water and sandwiches is under attack from a range of convenience foods like crisps, sweets, biscuits, chocolate and soft drinks. Parents and teachers are concerned about this trend but some find it difficult to come up with popular healthy alternatives. We ask you to encourage a healthy lunch right from the start.

The following guide is designed to help you provide quick, appetising, and nutritious lunches for your children

Bread & Alternatives

Bread or rolls, preferably wholemeal 

Rice – wholegrain 

Pasta – wholegrain 

Potato Salad

Wholemeal Scones

Bread sticks                                                        

Crackers

Pitta bread                                                                         

Savouries      

Lean Meat       

Chicken/Turkey

Tinned Fish e.g. tuna/sardines

Cheese

Quiche

Pizza

Fruit & Vegetables

Apples, Banana, Peach 

Mandarins, Orange segments, 

Fruit Salad, dried fruit, 

Plum, Pineapple cubes

Grapes,

Cucumber, Sweetcorn

Tomato,

Coleslaw.

Drinks

Milk

Fruit juices

Squashes, i.e. low sugar

Yoghurt

A word about Milk

Growing children should get approximately one pint of milk a day, or its equivalent as cheese, yoghurt or milk pudding. This ensures that they get enough calcium, which is essential for healthy bones and teeth. If a child does not drink a glass of milk at lunch, encourage him to have a carton of yoghurt or a small helping of cheese instead.

We ask that children do not bring the following to school:

Snacks known to be high in sugar, saturated fat, salt, additives and preservatives, including the following:

Crisps (including crisp-style snacks)
Fizzy drinks (including fizzy fruit-flavoured water, juices, etc)
Sweets
Chocolate biscuits/bars
Cereal bars
Chewing gum
Fruit winders
Popcorn.
Crackers
Sausage rolls

So as to take a proactive approach to healthy lunches, teachers will from time to time, reward children who can show a piece of fruit or other healthy foods in their lunchboxes.

Green Flag School
We are a green school.

With this in mind, children are also asked to:

  • take home (in lunchbox) all uneaten food, wrappings, containers and cartons
  • not to use tinfoil
  • put only fruit peel into the compost bins
  • not to bring in cans and glass – for safety reasons.

N.B. Parents/guardians of any child with a medical condition which requires a special diet should contact the school.