In a rather interesting twist to the ‘school meals’ tale which cropped up recently about unhealthy food served to children in schools, doctors have found that children eating school meals are equally healthy like those who bring home made food for lunch.
A survey by the British Medical Journal proved that students having school meals had lower cholesterol levels, as well as low blood sugar and insulin, as compared to those children who brought home packed food and were fairly safe. This study comes across as a stark contrast to the report published by the government last week regarding unhealthy junk food supplied to children in schools irrespective of their nutritional needs.
Leading author behind the study, St George's Hospital’s Professor Peter Whincup informed that certain advancements had taken place in the quality of food in schools both inside as well as outside the school premises, and said, “A lot of the content of lunch boxes reflects convenience rather than nutrition, with crisps and chocolate bars and canned drinks. What I would stress is the need to take a broader view of the nutrition of young people, rather than just focusing on the content of school meals."
The study was conducted on 1,100 students from the secondary section in 72 schools around 1998 and 2000 all over England and Wales. The research was so detailed that it collected every student’s physical statistics like height, weight, along with measurements of the waist and hips plus amount of body fat. Besides having low cholesterol and sugar levels, the study brought to light that school food consumers had lesser leptin amounts as well, clearly indicating lower levels of fat in the body.
The one thing that school meal eaters were found lacking was ‘folate’, which is a B- vitamin generally found in fresh green leafy vegetables. Therefore, Professor Whincup asserted the use of “more fresh food in school meals -- particularly fresh fruit and vegetables which is likely to raise folate levels.” Pointing to campaigners who advocate that green veggies promote better behaviour, Whincup added that giving fresh fruits and vegetables to pupils could improve their behaviours as well.
Posted
on : Fri, 07 Oct 2005 04:35 GMT | General News
By : Salim Patel
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