THE Scottish Government has announced that increasing numbers of schoolchildren are choosing to tuck in to a "nutritious hot meal" at lunchtime.
The timing of this declaration could not be worse for Edinburgh's Lib Dem/SNP administration, coming in the same week that parents will mount a protest at the City Chambers against school catering cutbacks.
The new figures, published yesterday, ex
posed the Capital's poor performance compared to most other local authorities when it comes to uptake of school meals – just 22 per cent of secondary school pupils and 37.8 per cent of primary pupils.
In the secondary age bracket, that is the lowest since records began in 1999 and the worst in Scotland by some distance.
So at a time when childhood obesity is one of the biggest health issues facing our society, the new figures are a huge blow for council chiefs. But they should perhaps not come as a huge surprise.
When school meal supplier Edinburgh Catering Services announced earlier this year that it was facing a £500,000 budget deficit, the city council responded with a series of cutbacks.
These included scrapping hot meals on a Friday at both primary and secondary level across the city, "mothballing" six primary school kitchens, and doing away with hot meals five-days-a-week at 14 of the council's 18 stand-alone nurseries.
The Evening News has been at the forefront of efforts to highlight the impact of these changes, which has seen breaded haddock and roast turkey removed from the menu to be replaced with processed cheese sandwiches, jelly, cake and crisps.
The sight of the unappetising food shocked senior councillors into action, and they have now pledged to investigate how to improve uptake.
Education leader Marilyne MacLaren points out that if more pupils ate school dinners, then the council would have more money to spend. But if pupils are to be served unappetising sandwiches at lunchtime in nursery, is this really the way to get them into the habit of taking school meals when they are older?
If anything is going to hamper efforts to encourage more youngsters to eat healthy meals, it is poor quality food.
The average uptake of school dinners in Scotland's primary schools rose this year from 46.3 per cent to 49.6 per cent. This is the highest on record, indicating that efforts to improve the diet of the country's youngest children are working.
At secondaries, however, the uptake level dropped from 44.9 per cent to 42.9 per cent – the lowest on record. For many teenagers, lunch from a fast-food outlet or chip shop has been the norm for years.
Adam Ingram, Minister for Children and Young People, admitted yesterday: "Some older children have already got into bad habits and it will take time to get the message over."
But he added: "It's encouraging to see local authorities embracing this opportunity to make a real difference and demonstrate that it is possible to lead the way in influencing young tastes. Some local authorities are showing encouraging increases in uptake of school meals which indicates that there are lessons to be learned from their success."
Unlike Edinburgh, 12 councils across Scotland did manage to improve their record at secondary school level between 2007 and 2008.
While the Shetland and Orkney Islands can boast the highest uptake levels, even Glasgow does considerably better than Edinburgh, at 31.9 per cent.
At primary level, Edinburgh's 37.8 per cent uptake has remained static since 2007 – below the national average, but above Stirling, East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire and East Dunbartonshire.
However, the overall figures are skewed because a trial project was recently launched to provide free dinners for all P1-to-P3 pupils in five council areas, which saw almost three-quarters of youngsters taking up the offer.
The pilot has been running in East Ayrshire, Glasgow, Fife, Scottish Borders and West Dunbartonshire.
In Edinburgh, only 21.3 per cent of primary school pupils and 15.4 per cent of secondary-age children are entitled to free meals.
For the rest, it costs £1.65 at primary level or £2.15 at secondary schools – the most expensive in Scotland by 22p.
Tina Woolnough, founder of the pressure group Parents in Partnership, today called on the council to reduce the price.
"Children can go to the chip shop and spend half that money at lunchtime," she said.
"More should be done to encourage pupils to stay on site and the dining halls should also be improved."
Cllr MacLaren today admitted the Scottish Government's figures were "disappointing".
She added: "However, we are currently developing a range of measures which are aimed at increasing the uptake of school meals."
The full article contains 794 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
