Tuck shops fail food test

Tucking into the issue of poor nutritional habits, Melitta Ngalonkulu and Athena O'Reilly take a look a the snack options offered to pupils and discover not a lot has been done to develop healthy eating habits at Bay schools

Faulty schoolground equipment and bullies may be some of the most obvious dangers hundreds of pupils face every day, but what they eat at school – w here they spend most of their time – could be just as detrimental to their well-being in the long run.

A snap survey by Weekend Post this week found pupils at six schools around Nelson Mandela Bay eating everything from samoosas to vetkoek on a daily basis.

Four schools dished up healthy options such as fruit and salad rolls. The survey was conducted in the wake of Health Minister Aaron Motsaoledi declaring war on fat with his proposal to tackle obesity.

And Heart and Stroke Foundation registered dietitian Jessica Byrne said unhealthy eating habits put adolescents at risk of high blood pressure. At least one in 10 c hi ldren in South Africa suffers from high blood pressure.

“We expect high cholesterol and high blood pressure to be conditions that affect adults, but due to inc re a s - ing rates of obesity and unhealthy lifestyle habits in children we are seeing these conditions in children too,” she said.

High blood pressure can cause a stroke, kidney disease or hear t failure . Children are vulnerable and easily influenced by unhealthy habits.

The gold standard would be for tuck shops to offer only healthy items, making it easier for pupils to make the healthier choice. “There are school tuck shops that have been able to achieve just that with the right amount of dedication and support.

“We need to keep in mind that this may be impractical or difficult to achieve for some, based on the resources available and the setting, and any improvement to the menu is a positive step in the right direction,” Byrne said.

Schools where some relatively “less healthy” snacks were found on the tuck shop menu included Greenwood Primary, Andrew Rabie High , Chapman Secondary, Wa l m e r High, New Brighton Sda Primary School and Urban Academy.

Andrew Rabie principal Willie Botha said they would like to introduce healthier options. The school stocks samosas, pies, sandwiches, fizzy drinks and cheap maize chips. Bottled water has been introduced . Botha said the samoosas were the most popular, probably because they sold for R7.

Chapman Secondary tuck shop manager Louise Barendse said they only offered food pupils could afford. The menu includes pies, samosas and fizzy drinks. “Ideally the school would prefer pupils to have packed lunches, but unemployment is rife around here.” Barendse said they had tried selling water, but it had been a failure.

Greenwood Primary School has outsourced its tuck shop duties to Cassies. They do samoosas, hot chips, toasted sandwiches and burgers. Greenwood Primary School principal Garry Pike said most children brought packed lunches and Cassies was mainly used on Fridays. “We are aware of the junk food side and because of this a healthy option is on the table.”

He said the school also provided sandwiches and porridge. New Brighton Sda Primary School principal Malusi Ngwenya said the school’s tuck shop could be better. "We believe that we could do better when it comes to selling healthier food, but the children like to buy vetkoek .”

Walmer High School principal Lunga Dyani said they did not have a tuck shop, but depended on hawkers, who sold a variety of low-cost products such as chips, sweets, vetkoek and polony slices. Urban Academy tuck shop manager Ronel van Huyssteen said previous attempts to promote healthier options had failed.

“We tried selling salad rolls and sandwiches, but the high school pupils said it was too healthy. They prefer the junk food.” Found to be doing well on the healthy choice side were high schools Pearson, Westering, Framesby and DF Malherbe Westering High School manager Daphne Delport said pupils had the freedom to choose the healthy option.

“There is a good balance on what is available to the children. We sell salads, salad rolls, pies, hamburgers, wraps, bran muffins and doughnuts,” she said. Delport said the salad rolls were a big hit.

“The unhealthiest thing on the menu is the doughnuts.” About 60 doughnuts are sold each day, at R6 each. Westering parent Rayneldo Visenyoue, 40, said she could provide her Grade 10 daughter Shae-Lynn, 15, with a decent packed lunch.

“I would provide a packed lunch all the time, but I travel. When I am away and can’t pack a lunch, the tuck shop is convenient,” she said. When packing a lunch, Visenyoue often goes for two low-GI sandwiches, fruit and a bottle of water.

Pearson High school tuck shop manager Petra Potgieter said the menu changed every day and included pita pockets and salad rolls. Pearson matric pupil Olivia Rose, 17, of Mill Park, has a packed lunch of fruit, biltong, and rice cakes. But on Tuesday she buys the famous Pearson High wrap. “I buy the chicken wrap every Tuesday because they are the best!”

St George's Preparatory School does not have a tuck shop, but uses a canteen to provide pupils with a balanced meal.

“ Meals are included in the fees. We don’t give sweets as rewards, because it would mean that we are rewarding good behaviour with bad habits,” campus head Alex Hall said.

Rhodes University human kinetics and ergonomics department head professor Candice Christie said: “In particular, sugar needs to be eliminated from tuck shops as food stuffs rich in sugar result in rapid spikes in blood glucose and then insulin, which creates a drop in energy likely to affect academic performance.

These foods stuffs also negatively affect weight, body composition and health.”