The role of school food service in promoting healthy eating at school – a perspective from an ad hoc group on nutrition in schools, Council of Europe

Changes in the eating habits of young people in Europe and the resulting growth in obesity and overweight are giving cause for concern. The Council of Europe in 2001 decided to establish an ad hoc group consisting of national experts to review the issues. Since then the group has studied current school food practices in Europe in order to be able to issue guidelines targeted at international, national, local and institutional levels. A survey was undertaken on behalf of the Council of Europe and World Health Organization (WHO, European Office) as a starting point. The study was an update of a previous survey carried out in the process of developing the ENHPS healthy eating in school manual and the results were presented at a forum held by the Council of Europe in collaboration with the WHO entitled The European Forum on Eating at School – Making Healthy Choices on the 20th and 21st November 2003. In addition, a number of experts from a range of professional backgrounds, all with a common interest in healthy eating in schools, were invited to present research results and discuss the way forward. The results from the forum have since been compiled into a forum report. The aim of this paper is to present and discuss the findings of the European Network of Health Promoting Schools group and its implications for school food service in the future; to discuss, in general, how schools can become a more active arena for the promotion of healthy eating, and how food service can contribute in this respect. The results present an overview of how food provision is organized in primary and secondary schools, at home, outside the school, lunch boxes, kiosk type outlets, vending machines, cash cafeterias and canteens as well as ‘special food promotions’. Data on how school food is financed and operated are presented together with the findings on future consumer demand. The findings and their implications for school food service operators are discussed. Barriers include improving logistics, reviewing the healthiness of food provision, the use of vending machines, involving stakeholders, complying with standards, integrating food and nutrition issues in the curriculum and giving due attention to future consumer demands. In conclusion, the paper presents guidelines on healthy eating at school issued by the Council of Europe on the basis of the forum and the work done in the ad hoc group.