School meals around the world

In Britain, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver recently embarked upon a crusade of sorts to improve what school children eat in schools. 

Through his television series Jamie's School Diners, the chef hoped to introduce healthier alternatives - fish pie instead of burgers, lemon roasted herb chicken instead of chicken nuggets, chilli beef instead of sausage rolls, couscous instead of pizza. 

He also wanted to get schools to replace processed food with freshly-cooked meals. His greatest achievement however was triggering off government action – the formation of the School Meals Review Panel which will, among other things, set compulsory nutritional standards for all school meals.  

In the United States, school lunches are often a subject of controversy, with critics blaming school lunches for the "fattening of America". 

Attempts to limit the amount of fat by reducing the servings of french fries have met with student rebellion! Both federal and local officials have been trying to improve the US school lunch programme so that it is more nutritious (while remaining tasty) but this is an enormous undertaking as there are 28 million students in 98,000 schools across the country. 

In France, a serious effort has been made to prevent childhood obesity, a rising threat in the country with about 15% of children udner 15 affected by obesity already. 

As a result, vending machines are no longer allowed in French primary schools (and secondary schools too, come September) and healthier menus comprising a starter and dessert (fruit) are being planned as well as the introduction of nutrition classes in school.  

Schools in Norway do not serve lunch to their studetns but instead encourage them to bring healthy packed lunches from home. 

Lunch breaks in Norwegian schools are only about 30 minutes long and children eat in their classrooms. Schools do, however, offer reduced-price milk, yoghurt and (or) fruit for school children.  

This generally reflects the country's focus on healthy eating – nutrition is part of the national school curriculum and teachers encourage their students to stay clear of unhealthy food.  

A 2002 Department of Agriculture (USDA) study shows that 80% of schools offered menu items that could be combined to meet dietary guidelines but more than one-fifth of lunch programmes offered commercial fast food. Also, most schools had vending machines.

Through his television series Jamie's School Diners, the chef hoped to introduce healthier alternatives - fish pie instead of burgers, lemon roasted herb chicken instead of chicken nuggets, chilli beef instead of sausage rolls, couscous instead of pizza.