Chef urges schools to banish junk food
This country, he said, needs to take a leaf out of Jamie Oliver’s cookbook and put nutrition top of the agenda in schools to help tackle obesity.
While a growing number of schools are cutting down on access to junk food, he suggested much more needs to be done.
Mr Maguire of MacNean House and Restaurant, Blacklion, Co Cavan, encouraged schools and parents to make a special effort to teach children the value of nutrition.
“I heard of several schools last week that have taken out the fizzy drinks machine over the summer. While that is excellent news overall, there is still a huge amount to do.
“Although many teachers and parents are beginning to wake up to the dangers of obesity in childhood and to the importance of getting children into the habit of healthy eating and learning to do some cooking themselves, a lot more needs to be done.”
The prevalence of those overweight or obese has been described by the World Health Organisation as a global epidemic.
In Ireland, 39% of the adult population is overweight, and 18% are obese.
Recent trends suggest a higher incidence of obesity in lower socioeconomic groups, while slightly more men than women are affected. Studies suggest, meanwhile, that the number of children in Ireland who are significantly overweight has trebled in the past decade.
Mr Maguire noted that while Jamie Oliver had blazed a trail in Britain highlighting the nutritional quality of school meals, Irish schools were lagging behind.
He added that many parents were neglecting their responsibility to encourage healthy eating.
“My parents were passionately interested in good quality ingredients cooked properly, so, from an early age, I learned ... about the ingredients and nutritional values of food.
“Today many children skip breakfast and then fill up from a vending machine or at the corner shop ... And how many lunch packs do you see with fruit? Far too few.”
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