School meals snubbed - 'Jamie Oliver would choke on his pasta'

IT IS enough to make Jamie Oliver choke on his nutritionally-balanced pasta and salad. Pupils are deserting Edinburgh's high school canteens after new healthy eating guidelines set limits on the amount of deep-fried food being served up and banned the sale of chocolate bars.

Some will claim this proves that "kids just don't want to eat healthy food", but uptake is growing in primaries and the reasons why more than four out of five secondary children choose to eat elsewhere is more complicated.

How many parents, for instance, might have recently switched to packed lunches as a cheaper alternative to schools' 2.25 meal deals?

What is beyond doubt is the benefit of eating a nutritious meal at lunchtime, not least in helping children concentrate.

The city's education leaders are right to look again at ways of attracting reluctant pupils, rather than blaming the nutrition guidelines and ducking out.

Demand for school meals is currently growing in England following the introduction of similar nutritional guidelines, showing this is a battle can be won.

The idea of a fast-food model, while keeping meals healthy, is a good one. When youngsters are used to getting tasty food, quick service and comfortable surroundings outside school, why would they settle for less inside?

The other approach is forcing pupils to stay on the premises at lunchtimes, as they do in France and much of Scandinavia. Why wouldn't it work in Edinburgh, especially for younger children just starting high school?

Not all gloom

THE announcement that around 480 jobs are to go at Standard Life is undoubtedly another significant blow to the Capital's financial services sector.

With economists at the Fraser of Allander Institute predicting 12,000 Scottish finance jobs will be lost this year, it is unlikely to be the last of the bad news.

While these remain worrying times for households across the city, it is possible to identify some positive signs which offer hope amidst the gloom.

Finance staff remain in demand in the city, with "new boys" Tesco and Virgin joining Lloyds Banking Group and Aegon in recruiting, while Standard Life is creating 100 IT jobs as part of its restructuring.