Healthy Eating
At Dromin NS we pride ourselves on being a healthy eating school. As part of the Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) Programme, we encourage the children to become more aware of the need for healthy food in their lunch boxes.
What people eat is known to be a key factor influencing health. Research indicates a strong link between diet and performance (e.g. a low sugar intake promotes concentration, lessens hyperactivity, protects teeth, and lessens the risk of diabetes. A low salt intake reduces the risk of heart disease in later life).
To promote healthy eating habits in our school, we introduced a healthy eating policy starting from May 2018.
Lunch is an important meal for school-going children. It should provide one third of their recommended daily allowance of nutrients without being high in fat, sugar or salt. It should also provide dietary fiber (roughage).
The traditional packed lunch of milk and sandwiches is under attack from a range of convenience foods like crisps, sweets, biscuits, chocolate and soft drinks. Parents and teachers are concerned about this trend but some find it difficult to come up with popular healthy alternatives. We ask you to encourage a healthy lunch right from the start.
Every year we take part in The Food Dudes Healthy Eating Programme. Food Dudes is an award winning curriculum-linked evidence-based healthy eating programme, developed to encourage children to eat more fresh fruit and vegetables. It brings about significant change and improvement in childrens’ eating habits. The programme effectively increases provision and consumption of fruits and vegetables at home and in school both in the short- and long-term. It is based on repeated tastings of fresh fruit and vegetables, rewards and positive role models.