Five a Day Fun Day
Sue Harvey, from Kent Trading Standards describes a partnership initiative between Kent Trading Standards, Kent Scientific Services (Public Analyst) and the Kent Fruit and Vegetables in Schools Co-ordinator, which helped local school children learn about healthy food choices, and was delivered in a laboratory environment. The fun day complimented the ‘health’ theme of National Consumer Week.
Project Date: 4th November 2005
Project Location: Kent Scientific Services laboratory
Project aims and objectives:
1. To provide pupils with the knowledge to make healthier food choices
2. To raise awareness of the 5 A Day fruit and vegetable campaign
3. To raise the profile of KSS and Kent Trading Standards within the community as 'health practitioners', a role identified in the White Paper 'Choosing Health'
Organisations Involved:
Kent County Council Trading Standards
Kent Scientific Services
Kent Fruit and Vegetables in Schools Co-ordinator
Participants:
60 children (aged 8 to 9) from The Kings Hill School attended the fun day, accompanied by teaching staff and parents.
Methodology:
The event was jointly organised by Kent TS and KSS. King's Hill school was selected initially for its proximity to KSS and were contacted via their ‘Healthy Schools’ nominated member of staff. The school were keen to participate in the event, which coincided with the school's theme for the term, 'Healthy Living'. A meeting was arranged with the Deputy Head in order to agree participation. The Kent Fruit and Vegetables in Schools Co-ordinator was approached and agreed to provide resources (game materials, bags, stickers and leaflets), and lead an activity. A detailed programme was also produced and circulated to all participants including the school representatives. The close location allowed that the children travel to and from the laboratory as a 'walking bus' in keeping with the Healthy Living ethos. The children were welcomed by the Mayor of Tonbridge and Malling, Councillor Derek Still before being split into four ‘fruit’ groups, to rotate around the morning’s fun but educational activities;
1. A tour of the laboratory, with a demonstration of the equipment for separating colours, measuring fats and identifying preservatives. Also on view was a computer presentation of 'foreign objects' (flies/worms etc) that have been found in food sent for analysis.
2. Healthy school meals - using the computer program developed by KSS, pupils worked in groups to select a 'healthy' meal and an 'unhealthy meal' from the menu options. The computer program identified the nutrients provided from each of the selections e.g. salt, fat, and sugar and these were illustrated pictorially through bar charts.
3. 'Five a Day bingo' - interactive games promoting interest in different fruits and vegetables and the message of 5 A Day for good health. The bingo was followed by a feel the fruit exercise where fruit had to be identified through touch alone.
4. 'Balance of Good Health' activities with Kent's Fruit and Vegetables in School Co-ordinator. Children identified which foods belonged to which food groups and how to select a balanced meal both at school and within their wider food intake.
Each child was provided with a 'goody bag' to take home containing healthy eating leaflets (also aimed at parents), stickers, pens and a mug.
Resources:
Costs arise from provision of refreshments to the children and some props for the activities. These were met by Kent Trading Standards. Other activity resources were loaned by the Fruit and Vegetables in Schools Co-ordinator.
Evaluation:
The children obviously enjoyed the event and this was confirmed by the school. Feedback from the pupils has made reference to particular healthy eating messages provided through the activities. Particularly popular were the laboratory tour and the ‘Five a Day’ bingo. The teachers commented that the visit was well organised and all those involved were friendly and helpful providing clear explanations as well as making the activities fun.
A competition to design and draw a healthy lunch was organised so the pupils could consider for themselves the information they have taken from the event.
Lessons Learnt
The time of several members of KSS staff and 2 officers from Trading Standards was needed to design and organise the content and operation of the event. Any future event would of course require less preparation provided it had identical content. The immediate limiting factor to future events is the number of staff directly involved on the day from KSS (6) and that the laboratory facility is out of action for the duration of the morning of the event, and for a significant part of the previous day. As a business unit this has a service delivery impact on KSS.
One alternative option is to hold the event at a venue other than KSS, providing a mock laboratory to still incorporate the 'science' aspects but this would lose the 'experience' associated with the event being held in a working laboratory.
Future Developments
Kent Trading Standards and Kent Scientific Services have been awarded funding by the FSA through their Local Authority Hygiene and Nutrition Initiatives Grant Scheme 2006/07. This will be used to develop a table-top display of interactive food science experiments and fund similar presentations to the Five A Day Fun Day on site at primary schools in the county.
An update on this case study is avaliable.
Contact:
Contact Name: Sue HarveyAddress:
Kent County Council Trading Standards,
Invicta House,
Maidstone
ME14 1XX
Telephone: 01622 221012
Fax: 01622 221013
Email Address: susan.harvey@kent.gov.uk