Love food! A Path for Life.

Rupert Weber of leading meals producer, apetito, talks about the importance of children enjoying their food when it comes to school mealtimes.

It’s easy for schools to focus on commercials and logistics of catering for pupils. Yet, it’s also important for us all to remember how vital it is that children enjoy their food. It’s good for pupils to develop a broad culinary repertoire so they can experiment and establish their likes and dislikes. The formative years of a child’s life are crucial for their physical, cognitive, and emotional development. And it’s during these years that their eating habits are formed and influenced – setting them on a path for life!

And schools have a key role to play in encouraging children to enjoy their food and introduce them to different foods outside of what they might have at home, whilst maintaining that all important ‘nutritional balance’. Let’s face it, almost every child would prefer to tuck into a bar of chocolate or a packet of crisps if given the choice between that and a healthy piece of fruit, but now’s the time to introduce them positively to foods that are vital for their long-term health and wellbeing. This doesn’t mean forcing pupils to eat certain foods or restrict others. It’s about creating a positive and enjoyable food environment that guides and encourages children to try new foods and make healthy choices. Studies have shown that children who enjoy a variety of foods early in life, are more likely to maintain a healthy diet later in life. In contrast, children are fussy eaters and refuse to try new foods are more likely to become picky eaters and develop a limited and unhealthy diet as they grow older.

All our meals here at apetito do the ‘heavy lifting’ for you. Our range has been specially developed to meet nutritional standards – and you can choose from more than 200 main meals and desserts which can open up new horizons and experiences for mealtimes, helping pupils try new dishes. It’s a range that we know children will love that comes packed with goodness and nutrition.

The importance of Parental Engagement
Quite rightly, schools cannot be held accountable for everything that relates to a pupil’s daily diet when it is responsible for providing one main meal a day. It’s a three-way relationship between home, school, and child… Parental engagement in school meals is becoming more evident in the success of a school’s catering programme. The growing uptake of school meals is important for most schools in order to drive catering efficiency and deliver enhanced nutrition. When parents are involved in the school meals programme, they are more likely to encourage their children to participate in the school meals programme itself. This leads to higher uptake and schools can use the information to plan their meals, purchase the right quantities of ingredients and reduce food waste.

Parental engagement in school meals can also help schools to create a sense of community. When parents are involved in school meals, they feel more connected to the school and have a greater understanding of the school’s goals and objectives, leading to greater support for the school, itself. One of the ways schools can involve parents is by organising regular special tasting events. These events can be held at school during (or outside of) school hours and can include samples of meals on offer. At apetito, we regularly work with our school partners to host tastings of our 200 main meals and desserts which have incredibly well received. Parents learn about the meals served in the school and how they contribute to their child’s health and academic performance. These events can also provide an opportunity for parents to offer feedback on the meals served in the school and suggest ways to improve them.

Check out our meals and how we can help your school:
https://www.apetito.co.uk/our-service/school-meal-services