Healthy living

Healthy eating habits start at home and schools play a supporting role in ensuring children understand the importance of making healthy food choices. Try to pack your child’s lunchbox with healthy food from the 5 food groups including wholegrains, protein, dairy, vegetables and fruits.

The Department of Health’s Fresh School Nutrition Advisory Program (FreshSNAP) helps schools to take a whole of school approach to healthy eating. FreshSNAP includes:

• a statewide advisory service
• an interactive website including FoodChecker that helps with canteen menu planning
• parent information and resources.

School canteens and food services use a traffic light system to plan menus full of healthy and nutritious food and drinks.

• ‘green’ food and drink, accounting for a minimum of 60% of the menu
• ‘amber’ food and drink accounting for a maximum of 40% of the menu
• ‘red’ food and drink are not on the menu.

There are many children in schools with food allergies. It isn’t possible to remove all allergens from schools, so we encourage parents and children to become allergy aware. Your child’s school will advise you of their strategies to minimise the risk of allergen exposure in schools which may include:

• removing nut spreads and products containing nuts from the school canteen
• requesting that classmates of primary school students do not include nut spreads in sandwiches or products containing nuts in their lunchbox.

If your child has an allergy it is important for you to advise the school and complete the relevant Management and Emergency Response Plan.

Schools provide your child with at least two hours of physical activity every week. Physical education helps develop skills for participation in sport and recreation activities.

It can also help them to make good choices about physical activity and their own health and wellbeing.

Schools athletics and swimming carnivals encourage friendly competition and good sportsmanship. Many schools also have sports programs and teams that play in local, club or interschool competitions.

All schools have evidence-based practices in place to promote sun safety and heat management. These may include:

• providing shade areas
• planning alternative activities when the UV level is high
• wearing a hat or other protective clothing when playing in the sun
• wearing sunscreen
• encouraging students to stay hydrated.