health matters.

How much does what we eat at school shape our view of food as adults? Quite a lot, it turns out – and done well, school dinners can help us develop a lifelong healthy relationship with food. Clare Finney looks at the charities trying to help, against a backdrop of government cuts and rising childhood obesity

We all have memories of them, good and bad – but how much do school dinners shape our view of food as adults? Quite a lot, it turns out – and if they’re structured correctly, with a bit of enlightened modern thinking added in, they can help us develop a healthy relationship with food that will stand us in good stead for life. Claire Finney looks at the charities trying to help, against a backdrop of government cuts and evere’ve all had formative experiences with school food that, for better or worse, have shaped our preferences, while a growing body of evidence suggests school can play a defining role in our eating habits and physical health.

“There is nothing hardwired about our preferences, apart from a taste for sweet,” says psychologist Dr Gillian Harris, an expert in child feeding behaviour at the University Of Birmingham. “ W herever you are in the world, you like the food everyone around you is eating.” Growing up on the Essex coast, she ate whelks from a young age; around the world, little children will happily have slimy, sharp or bitter foods because “that’s what’s available”. Yet however kids arrive at school – snacking on olives or eschewing everything but soft white bread – there is, she says, potential for every child to learn.

At school, you can learn how to eat, socialise over mealtimes and share food, all vital skills we draw on throughout adulthood. Without the emotional baggage of family, and with the freedom to decide what and how much they eat, kids can learn to regulate their appetite and try foods they might not get at home.