Beyond the School Gate - Improving Food Choices in the School Community

Summary

This document identifies key opportunities for partners to positively influence the food environment around schools and encourage children to make healthier choices in school and when purchasing food beyond the school gate. This includes action to influence some aspects within schools. All partners, including local authorities, schools, retailers, caterers, are strongly encouraged to review current policies. In doing, partners are asked to consider what more they could do, what they could do better, who they are working with and what approaches would best suit their local needs. The self-evaluation tool which accompanies this guidance has been designed to assist partners to do this. The areas for action identified in this guidance are by no means exhaustive and partners are urged to think innovatively about how they can best respond to their local needs.

There is no quick fix. Strong leadership, joint working and a partnership approach are essential to effect the changes required to improve the food environment around schools and support children and young people to make healthier choices. The action described in this document, along with the other work going on within schools and in the wider community around food and diet, will together help to transform the food environment around schools into one which supports individuals to make healthier food choices and will have a positive impact on their long term health and wellbeing.