If a wicked fairy godmother wanted to find out how to ruin children's health by diet, she could learn a lot from present day school dinners. With high fat, sugar, salt and additives and low fibre, texture and vital nutrients, school junk food actively promotes life-threatening diseases. It also trains children's palates to prefer junk over quality and to dislike anything that needs chewing.
Professor Kevin Morgan of Cardiff University says the problem has been created by successive governments' refusal to fund decent school meals. In Italy, by contrast, quality is the priority, so Italian school meals are good. He also points to the various and conflicting UK regulatory bodies which can stymie those seeking better food.
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