Charity’s Nursery Lunch Menu Plea

Toddlers should be served lunch in nursery as part of the drive to tackle obesity, a charity has said. Children in Scotland is hosting an international conference in Dunfermline on Friday to debate the issue. More than a third of Scots children are overweight and most do not lose that excess weight when they grow up. The charity is urging the Scottish Executive to ensure lunch is served in nurseries in the belief it will make it easier to promote healthy eating.

Children in Scotland believes helping youngsters aged three and four to eat healthy meals will help them avoid fatty and unhealthy foods as they grow older and develop their social skills.

Wendy Alexander, a member of the Scottish Parliament’s education committee, is due to chair the conference, which will be addressed by speakers from around the world.

The executive has issued nurseries with guidelines on healthy snacks, but it has no plans to ensure nurseries serve meals.

It said this was a decision for individual nurseries and parents.

Donatella Giovanni, a speaker at the one-day conference – An appetite for life: young children, food and eating – is due to stress the importance of the midday meal in developing social and emotional skills.