1. Force kids to eat lunch at school, trustees told
Toronto task force aims to stop students buying junk food meals
April 9, 2009
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KRISTIN RUSHOWY
LOUISE BROWN
Toronto middle schools and junior highs should make kids stay on school property at lunch to
prevent them from wandering over to a mall or hot dog vendor and buying junk food, a task force
recommends.
But to do that, school cafeterias need a makeover – they must be brighter, more appealing and
offer better food choices, says the report from the Toronto District School Board's nutrition task
force.
Trustee Michael Coteau says it will be controversial to keep 11- to 14-year-olds at school, but says
it's worth it because nutrition has been proven to be key to their health, behaviour and school
success.
"I think if we had more vibrant, youth-friendly places to eat, with background music and programs
that could be running, it would make it more interactive and more fun," said Coteau, the task force
chair, adding more nutrition education in the classroom is also needed.
The move wouldn't prevent the kids – in Grades 6 to 9 – from going home, but if they stay at
school, they'd need written parental permission to leave property.
Students, however, are not convinced. Bowen Pausey, who is in Grade 8 at Glen Ames Senior Public
School in the Beach, brings his lunch most days. On Fridays, he heads to Queen St. E. for pizza,
subs or Tim Hortons. It is a weekly ritual that gives him time with friends and a break from the
school.
"I wouldn't like that at all," the 13-year-old said of having to remain on site for lunch. He's no fan of
cafeteria food – "the salads don't look too pleasing, the fries are always cold" – but said if it
improved, and the prices dropped, he'd consider eating there.
George Wilson, 12, leaves Deer Park Public School two noon-hours every week to play basketball
and eat pizza. He likes the freedom to walk over to nearby Yonge St. or St. Clair Ave. for fast food.
"If we had to stay at school every day it would get pretty boring," added Emily Mooy, who leaves
Hodgson Senior Public School, near Mount Pleasant and Eglinton, and goes to Tim Hortons every
Friday for a toasted bagel.

2. For two years, the task force, comprising parents, trustees and nutrition experts, has looked at
ways to improve student nutrition and, given the current economic meltdown, more families will rely
on snack and lunch programs, it notes.
The report, which is yet to be approved by the board, comes on the heels of the Ontario Medical
Association's request for provincial legislation forcing restaurants and school cafeterias to post
calorie counts on menus.
The Toronto District School Board runs nutrition programs for 78,000 students at a cost of more
than $10 million from provincial and municipal funding, parent contributions and local donations.
The report notes that Canada is the only Western nation not to have a national, federally funded
nutrition program for children and asks Toronto trustees to lobby government to change that.
Research has shown nutrition affects everything from aggression to attendance to academic
success; hungry teens are more likely to have lower math scores and repeat a grade and students
with high-calorie diets can be aggressive and irritable because of sugar intake.
According to a Toronto survey, some 41 per cent of the city's high school students don't have
breakfast and 21 per cent don't eat lunch.
Of those who do have lunch, 54 per cent buy their meal in the school cafeteria, with half of those
buying one meal a week, the report notes. About 20 per cent leave school property at lunch to buy
"cheap, unhealthy food." Some complained the school food is too expensive and feel the space is
unclean.
Staying at school for lunch wouldn't change much for the 1,175 students at Toronto's Valley Park
Middle School, near Don Mills Rd. and the Don Valley Parkway, which requires all students, whether
in Grade 6, 7 or 8, to stay for safety reasons unless their parents write to say they can leave, said
vice-principal Amajit Parmar.
"I buy the spicy chicken patty every day for $1.40. It's good," said Grade 8 student Razia Popal, 14,
while friend Manigha Satari waited for the next batch of fries. "I mostly buy poutines," she
confessed.
Coteau said rather than banning fries – which students told the task force they were dead-set
against – cafeterias could instead offer "fries-free" days once or twice a week.
Catherine Parsonage, the board's senior manager of nutrition services, said schools that have
banned unhealthy foods see cafeteria revenue drop by about 30 per cent.
Toronto board cafeterias are either operated by outside, for-profit companies or by the board itself
on a non-profit basis. All are required to offer a healthy food lunch option each day for $4.