Healthy school meal plan outlined

Governors have come up with tips for children's lunchboxes

School meals should give children almost a third of their weekly fibre and protein, new guidelines recommend.

The National Heart Forum and Caroline Walker Trust are the latest to add to the proposals for healthier lunches.

Their recommendations also say five to 18-year-olds should receive 40% of the recommended iron, zinc, calcium and vitamins A and C over a week.

And they say school lunches should include at least two portions of fruit and vegetables every day.

There should be no salt on the tables - but there should be free, fresh, chilled water in schools, the study continues.

But surveys suggest about half of children bring in food from home - an area outside regulation.

Lunch packing a healthy punch

Dr Helen Crawley is the author of the National Heart Forum report.

She said it recommended that packed lunches should contain:

• one starchy food such as bread
• meat or fish
• one portion of fruit or vegetables

She said lunch should consist of the main components for any good meal.

School governors increasingly feel they need to take responsibility for what children eat in schools.

The National Governors' Council has recommended that school lunchboxes should cut down on fatty foods such as butter, mayonnaise, chocolate and crisps, and that parents should try to make lunches more varied by including salad in sandwiches or offering salad as an alternative.