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School lunches low in nutritional value, says survey

Elementary schools around the nation need to double the amount of fruit and vegetables they serve, a cancer foundation said yesterday.

A survey of 301 elementary schools nationwide found that 70 percent of the "nutritious lunches" provided by the schools contained less than half a serving of vegetables per meal.

Fruit is even less likely to be provided, with nearly 70 percent of schools providing half a portion of fruit only once or twice a week.

The Department of Health recommends three portions of vegetables and two portions of fruit daily.

The results of the survey, conducted by the Formosa Cancer Foundation, was released yesterday to coincide with Children's Day.

Surprise finding

"We were very surprised to find that the amount of fruit and vegetables served in school lunches was so low," foundation CEO Lai Gi-ming (賴基銘) said.

About 96 percent of schoolchildren participate in "nutritious lunch" programs nationwide, the survey showed.

A child's intake of vegetables for lunch could be even lower than the figures shown in the poll, as 75 percent of teachers surveyed said that vegetables were the item most often left uneaten by kids. Fruit, on the other hand, proved to be unexpectedly popular.

"More than 60 percent of the kids like to eat fruit everyday, but only 10 percent of schools provide it on a daily basis," Lai said, citing survey findings.

"We would like to see the current levels of fruit and vegetables at least doubled," he added. "This means more investment by the government in the health of our kids."

Lack of funds

The foundation attributed the paltry amounts of fruits and vegetables in school lunches to two factors -- a lack of funds allocated to producing the meals and a low number of nutritionists serving schools.

The average school lunch costs less than NT$30, the survey showed. Almost 50 percent of teachers surveyed said that the biggest problem with school lunches was that the program was underfunded.

Although local laws require that every school that has more than 40 classes must have a nutritionist to ensure safe and nutritious meals, 81 percent of the schools surveyed said they had no dedicated nutritionist.

"Right now, we have about one nutritionist for every 4,000 schoolchildren," Lai said.

"We found that schools with nutritionists tend to serve more fruit and veggies than other schools," he said.
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