Smart ŕ la carte
Wed 03 June 2009
Macaela French, Journalism Major
Pressured by demanding children and stretched budgets, Sunshine Coast tuckshops struggle to toe the line with the government’s healthy eating strategy.
A staggering five out of six Queensland school tuckshops still do not meet the Smart Choices standards almost three years after the program started. Foods high in saturated fats and sugars dominate over healthy options and finding a cheap nutritious snack can be virtually impossible in some tuckshops. 
Queensland’s Association of School Tuckshops (QAST) recently reviewed the success of Smart Choices in a report titled, A Tuckshop Snapshot 2008. The report, funded by health insurer MBF, collates information from 500 schools, of the total 1454 of all Queensland schools that offer food on campus.
University of the Sunshine Coast nutrition and dietetics senior lecturer Fiona Pelly says that the government strategy is an improvement over the previous menus in Sunshine Coast schools, but has its weaknesses.
“[Children] have less opportunity to eat junk foods but you still have children who will pick out the amber choices more often or go elsewhere to buy junk food,” Dr Pelly says.
Based on the Australian Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents and the Australian Guide for Healthy Eating, the government strategy advises tuckshops to provide mostly healthy options, and severely limit unhealthy varieties. Smart Choices adopts a traffic light colour code which assigns green to healthy foods, amber to foods that require small portions and red to items such as soft drink, lollies and other unhealthy foods. The Tuckshop Snapshot exposes that despite the simple traffic light system, amber foods continue to dominate the menu.
Dr Pelly describes the concept and basis of the strategy as fairly easy for children and convenors to understand, however “it’s the practical application [that is] difficult to follow because it can be difficult to interpret”.
Coolum State School tuckshop convenor Cheryl Turner decided to convert to Smart Choices earlier than most Coast tuckshops after attending a training session in Beerwah. She is worried the Smart Choices restrictions on ‘appropriate’ foods severely limit her ability to satisfy demands from the school, children and parents.
“Under Smart Choices we are more restricted with items to offer and it’s hard to get something that’s cheap enough,” Ms Turner says.
What’s more the guidelines and nutritional regulations require significantly more time and create a heavy dependence on volunteers in tuckshops.
“Smart Choices needs a lot more manpower to prepare and make the fresh food,” Ms Turner says.
Despite Sunshine Coast tuckshops’ three year involvement with the strategy, Dr Pelly explains that resistance to change, stretched budgets and children’s demands prevent widespread acceptance of Smart Choices.
“Children want the junk food and convenors don’t want to change because they are trying to make a profit.
“Sometimes they don’t know how to change the menu or have the perception that it will cost more,” Dr Pelly says.
She adds that state schools are particularly pressured by finances as their tuckshop may be the main source of fundraising revenue, so convenors follow strategies that work and unfortunately “unhealthy items gain more profit”. The QAST report also recognises that profits are more important for state than private schools, particularly since 17 per cent of tuckshops made a loss in 2007 compared with only 7.2 per cent back in 1998.
To combat the initial down-turn in profits after commencing Smart Choices, Ms Turner introduced several snack options; the favourites however are not green options such as sushi, but amber which includes biscuits and pikelets.
“I think by and large, they prefer amber options,” Ms Turner says.
Dr Pelly is concerned about the continuing presence of brightly packaged potato chips and flavoured drinks in school tuckshops. Although these are potentially red foods, in practice “if it is visually appealing [like the bright bottles] children will choose it”. Packaging is fundamental in encouraging children to purchase healthy items as “healthy options need to look appealing to children too”.
In the tuckshop, Ms Turner says “presentation is everything”. Her efforts to attract children to salads often go unnoticed when they head straight for the brightly coloured straight-out-of-the-packet chicken sticks or biscuits.
To assist schools Dr Pelly recommends attaching a resource to Smart Choices which clearly suggests simple healthy options, such as yoghurt and healthy muffins.
QAST proposes ongoing professional development focused on developing easy to prepare menus and recruiting and retaining volunteers as vital to the success of Smart Choices.
Both Dr Pelly and Ms Turner agree that Smart Choices on its own is unlikely to turn out a generation of carb-savvy, health-conscious youngsters.
Despite the strategy’s current weaknesses, Dr Pelly recognises “you have to start somewhere”. Smart Choices is the first step to improving the nutrition of school children but it is only “part of a bigger picture to address the issue of children’s health”.
Ms Turner believes healthy food choices begin at home - “it has to come from the parents. It’s not the kids that have to be educated on this”.
Image(s) designed by Macaela French