1. A healthy start to school
Produced by NAQ Nutrition Food Smart Schools Program with funding received from the
Smart Choices Initiative
2. A healthy start to school
Promoting healthy foods and drinks is important to our
school community
(Insert your school logo here)
3. What is Smart Choices?
• Queensland Government initiative aimed at
improving the nutritional value of foods and
drinks supplied to students in schools
• Smart Choices applies to:
• tuckshops, canteens and vending machines
• fundraising events – food drives, sausage sizzles
• school dances, fetes, movie nights
• sports days – swimming and athletic carnivals, on site sports
clubs (e.g. swim clubs)
• school excursions if the school provides the foods and drinks
• classroom rewards
4. Smart Choices
• Classifies foods and drinks into three categories
according to nutritional value
GREEN FOODS
Have plenty
AMBER FOODS
Select carefully
RED FOODS
Occasionally
(no more than two
times per term)
5. Australian Guide to Healthy Eating
• Smart Choices is based on the Australian
Guide to Healthy Eating
6. Smart foods for kids
A range of ways you can support Smart Choices
and promote health and wellbeing in your
children:
• talk to children about the importance of healthy foods
and drinks
• model healthy eating at home
• provide children with a good breakfast and a healthy
lunchbox
• volunteer at the tuckshop/canteen and other school
events where possible
• be a part of our school parent organisation.
7. Importance of breakfast
Breakfast is important for children because:
• it improves their mood, classroom focus, memory
and learning
• children’s appetites are often best in the first half
of the day
• protein foods at breakfast are a good idea, for
example, dairy, eggs, baked beans
• it is very difficult to meet daily nutrient needs if
breakfast is missed.
8. Healthy breakfast examples
• Wholegrain cereals (e.g. porridge, muesli,
wheat cereal) topped with reduced fat milk or
yoghurt and a piece of fruit
• Wholegrain toast with low fat healthy
spreads, or served with baked
beans/banana/egg/ cheese and tomato and a
piece of fruit
• Breakfast on the run – fruit such as banana,
reduced fat milk and yoghurt smoothie
9. Importance of fluids
• Inadequate fluid throughout the
day can lead to:
• fatigue, listlessness, headache and
low mood
• Water is best – pack a refillable water bottle
every day
• Milk is next best – will need to be kept cold
• Juice should be 100% and small serve size
• No soft drinks, cordials, sports drinks or
flavoured waters
• No energy drinks
10. Importance of healthy lunchboxes
• About half a child’s daily nutrition
needs will be met while at school
• Important that lunchbox food is
nutritious
• Provides energy, and the vitamins
and minerals needed to help with
growth, play, learning, focus and
mood
11. Lean meats and poultry,
fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and
seeds, and legumes/beans
-Sliced cooked lean meats –
lamb, ham, chicken, roast beef,
turkey
-Boiled eggs
-Tuna/salmon
-Legumes including baked
beans, chickpeas, lentils, butter
beans, kidney beans
Lunchbox choices
Aim for at least one food from each of the
five core food groups in the lunchbox
Milk, yoghurt, cheese
and/or alternatives, mostly
reduced fat
-Reduced fat milk
-Soy milk (or other cow’s milk
alternative) with added calcium
-Reduced fat cheese
-Reduced fat yoghurt
Grain (cereal) foods,
mostly wholegrain and/or
high fibre varieties
-Wholegrain bread and bread
rolls
-Wholegrain cereals
-Wholegrain pita/pocket bread
-Lavash or Turkish bread
-Fruit bread
-Rice cakes
-Pikelets, muffins and scones
Vegetables and
legumes/beans
-Salads – tomatoes, carrots,
cucumber, celery, lettuce, sprouts,
corn on the cob
-Vegetables – stir-fried, corn on
the cob, carrot sticks, capsicum
slices, snow peas
-Reduced fat potato salad or
coleslaw
-Small can of baked beans
Fruit
- Fresh whole fruit
- Fruit salad
- Canned fruit in natural juice
- Dried fruit (30g serve, or 4
dried apricot halves or 1 ½
tablespoons sultanas
12. More healthy lunchbox ideas
• Wraps, rolls and
sandwiches
• Pita bread/English muffin
pizzas
• Noodle, rice or pasta dishes
• Sushi, rice paper rolls
• Frittata or quiche
• Cheese and wholegrain
crackers
• Dip and vege sticks
• Corn on the cob
• Air-popped popcorn
• Bottle of water
• Milk poppers
• Yoghurt, custard
• Fresh and frozen fruit
13. Which is more expensive?
Apple
$4.00/kg
Cheese and
crackers
$9.04kg
Pre-packaged
cheese and
crackers
$32.10kg
Popcorn
$4.10/kg
Crisps
$30.00/kg
Fruit
bread
$7.70/kg
Muesli
bar
$24.10kg
* Prices are approximate and may vary
Fruit strap
$43.50/kg
14. Managing food allergies at school
• Education Queensland has a policy for
managing allergies in schools – Anaphylaxis
Guidelines for Queensland State Schools
• Our school policy/procedure in relation to
managing allergies (including food allergies) is:
(insert school policy/procedure)
15. Department of Education, Training and Employment (DETE)
Smart Choices
www.education.qld.gov.au/schools/healthy
For more information
NAQ Nutrition
Food Smart Schools Program
Ph: (07) 3257 4393
info@foodsmartschools.org
www.foodsmartschools.org
Further
information
Editor's Notes
Our school is committed to providing and promoting healthier foods and drink in the school community in line with the Queensland Government initiative Smart Choices, the Healthy Food and Drink Supply Strategy for Queensland Schools.
Smart Choices is all about offering healthier foods and drink to students and asks schools to address all areas of food supply and food promotion within the school environment, including the tuckshop/canteen and vending machines, the classroom and classroom rewards, school events such as field trips, excursions, sports days, celebrations, and school fundraisers.
Smart Choices classifies foods and drinks into three categories based on how nutritious they are:
GREEN – these foods are excellent sources of important nutrients. They should be encouraged and promoted in the school as the best choice.
AMBER – these foods and drinks have some sugar, fat or salt added. They should be selected carefully.
These foods are often processed, packaged convenience foods (e.g. processed meats, sweet biscuits, bars).
RED – these foods have limited nutritional value and are higher in sugar, fat, salt and kilojoules. These foods will be supplied on no more than two occasions per term across our school environment.
These foods include confectionery, deep-fried foods and soft drinks.
Smart Choices is based on the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating. Foods that fit into the five core food groups and appear here on this plate are referred to mostly as GREEN foods throughout the Smart Choices strategy (e.g. fresh fruit and vegetables, grains, dairy and lean meats, poultry, fish, nuts).
Our school community has a strong focus on the supply of healthy foods and drinks at school. We will now discuss a range of ways that you can support Smart Choices and promote health and wellbeing in your children to maximise their potential at school and beyond.
Mornings can be a busy time; however, breakfast is extremely important for children before they come to school.
A healthy breakfast:
will improve skills and concentration during the morning
will improve your child’s mood and level of happiness
is important for students’ brain development — protein foods at breakfast are a good idea, for example, dairy, eggs, baked beans.
Children’s appetites are often better in the first half of the day, so breakfast provides a great opportunity to encourage their intake of nutritious foods.
It is recommended, for adequate growth, that a quarter of a child’s daily energy requirements and some protein should be included at breakfast.
NOTE TO PRESENTER: If your school allows for a ‘munch and crunch’ or ‘brain break’, this could be a good opportunity to discuss this healthy eating program and how it works at your school.
Here are a sample of healthy breakfast ideas that contain an excellent source of vitamins and minerals, protein and high fibre carbohydrates to get your children’s day off to a great start.
Eating and drinking at school can be quite a new experience for Prep students.
Remembering to drink might not come naturally to them at first, so packing a refillable water bottle each day is encouraged to ensure children have ready access to fluids. Remind them to refill their water bottle if they finish it during the school day. We also have bubblers located throughout the school with chilled water.
The cheapest and healthiest thirst quenching drink for children is plain water. Children also need milk for building strong bones and healthy teeth.
Drinks that are not needed as part of a healthy diet include fruit juice, cordial, soft drinks, sports drinks, flavoured waters, energy drinks and large serves of flavoured milk.
These drinks can fill children up and lead to a decreased appetite for other healthier foods. They can have a high sugar and energy content, which can lead to an unhealthy weight and damage to children’s teeth. It is best to provide these drinks only very occasionally or at special celebrations. Energy drinks may contain caffeine or guarana and are not recommended for consumption by children. We do not offer energy drinks for sale in our school.
What you put in your child’s lunchbox is very important as about half of a child’s daily nutrition needs will be met while at school. If children fill up on food that is not nutritious, they will not get the recommended nutrients each day for energy, growth and the best learning.
Here are some examples of lunchbox foods from the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating five core food groups.
You should aim to include at least one food from each of the five core food groups in your child’s lunchbox.
Here are some more lunchbox ideas for Prep students which include nutritious whole foods from each of the five core food groups.
Note: There are a number of fact sheets available from Nutrition Australia Qld Food Smart Schools Program (www.foodsmartschools.org) with more information and ideas for healthy lunchboxes.
A concern for many parents is that healthy eating is expensive, so let’s have a look at the price differences between some common lunchbox items.
You will find that the products pictured on the right of each box, which are pre-packaged, are not only much more expensive, but also tend to be higher in sugars, fats, salts, and lower in fibre than those on the left.
When planning your child’s lunchbox, we ask you to consider the food allergies of some students at our school.
Use this slide to insert your own school’s approach to managing food allergies at your school.
Anaphylaxis Guidelines for Queensland State Schools at http://education.qld.gov.au/schools/healthy/docs/anaphylaxis_guidelines_for_queensland_state_schools.pdf provides more information for families.
We hope this information has assisted you in helping your child get the healthiest start they can to school. Please do not hesitate to talk to your child’s teacher at any time about healthy eating in our school.
Visit the Smart Choices website at www.education.qld.gov.au/schools/healthy for more information about the Smart Choices strategy or for a copy of this presentation.
Visit NAQ Nutrition Food Smart Schools website at www.foodsmartschools.org for more information, fact sheets and resources about healthy eating for children and families.
