Food & Health Alliance

With Scots dying younger than in any other part of the UK (2010 Scottish Health Survey) and over two thirds of adults and one third of children classified as overweight, the Scottish Government has established a National Indicator to reduce the rate of increase in the proportion of children with their BMI out with a healthy range by 2018.  As children learn through all of their experiences, it is important that learning about health and wellbeing is embedded in the learning experiences of children from a very early age.

It is therefore significant that the three central strands of the curriculum that all teachers are expected to weave into their teaching at every stage of a child’s development are numeracy, literacy, and health and wellbeing.

“While health and wellbeing has of course always been part of classroom teaching, the new curriculum makes this more explicit and more central to the learning experience.” says Anne Jardine, Director of Learning and Community, Education Scotland, “If children have numeracy, literacy and health and wellbeing skills they are more likely to achieve positive sustained destinations in life.”

The increased focus on food and health within the curriculum is especially important at a time when it is essential to raise levels of physical activity, address mental and emotional health concerns and tackle the alarming levels of obesity.  The introduction of practical food skills in pre-school and at primary level will build on skills learned in the home and community.

Experiences and outcomes from the new curriculum show progression from early years to the senior phase (3-18). For example within ‘nutrition’, children will learn about different elements of the food and health curriculum at different stages of their development. For instance, children in early years will be taught about preparing, handling and tasting food and understanding ways in which food and drink make us healthy.

By the end of primary school this could extend to preparing simple healthy food and drinks, and discussing the journeys which food makes from source to consumer, their seasonality, their local availability and their sustainability. For children in secondary school, this will involve practical cooking as well as exploring how food and health policies impact on individuals, the community and the world of work.

The ‘food and the consumer’ topic might start by looking at where foods come from. The breadth, depth and progression of the experiences and outcomes in secondary school will shift to looking at areas of food labelling and packaging, food security and the impact of advertising.  This approach encourages teachers to change traditional methods of delivery, encouraging working across other subjects of the curriculum as well as continued meaningful partnership working, so that learners achieve a much deeper understanding.

Anne Jardine, continues, “The presence of food and health within the curriculum provides students with the knowledge and skills to make healthy food choices and help establish lifelong healthy eating habits.  Having food and health as a key part of Curriculum for Excellence can only help to contribute to transforming the health of the nation.”

More information:

http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/  

Kerry Crichton, Health and Wellbeing Development Officer

Kerry.Crichton@educationscotland.gov.uk