Results in the recent Child’s Obesity Strategy report by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) show that the UK has one of the highest levels of childhood obesity in Europe. Get Set to Eat Fresh offers a new and fun way of instilling the importance of healthy eating into young people. Teachers can give real-life examples to their class by using Team GB athletes as inspiration of how eating nutritious food has an impact on performance at a professional level.
Schools across the UK have been using Get Set to Eat Fresh to promote healthy eating in the run up to the Rio Games. In June, Willows Primary School held a Healthy Bodies Week; Severn View Food Project provided a three course meal all cooked from scratch with the help of people with learning disabilities at a local school with 51% Free School Meals; Pye Bank CE Primary School in Sheffield embarked on a whole school and community health event named ‘Eat Smart for a Healthy Heart’ involving smoothie bikes and used the Snack for Success resource to hold a “what’s in your lunchbox station?", where common lunchbox snacks were examined on how healthy they were. Fruit Kebabs were on offer with 10 different fruits available to try to entice pupils to opt for healthier snacking and lunches.
To tops things off, the programme offers prizes to schools who share their story of how they have adopted the programme as their own. They have the chance to win Team GB signed merchandise, Get Set to Eat Fresh stickers and even a school visit from an athlete.
“Get Set to Eat Fresh is a great way to teach students about the importance of eating healthily and gives them the necessary skills to prepare and cook meals using nutritious ingredients,” said Tania Marsden, PE coordinator and class teacher at Pye Bank CE Primary School. “The resources have been very useful for them to understand what it means to cook and eat fresh food. Having Nicola Adams visit our school has really reinforced the healthy eating message and inspired students to lead a healthy life.”
Resources fall under three main strands:
- Exploring Food with Team GB focuses on the importance of having a balanced diet and how it can help young people lead healthy, active lifestyles.
- Cook for a Homegrown Hero helps young people to understand how athletes plan their food for winning performances and cook healthy snacks and meals for athletes and themselves.
- Celebration of Food encourages schools across the UK to celebrate food from around the world and tell the Get Set Community all about it. Staff can even run their very own school-held celebrations.
Visit getseteatfresh.co.uk for more information.