Call for hot lunches for primary schoolchildren

Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen says in Jersey a hot lunch costs parents £2.50

A politician has called for hot lunches to be made available to children in Guernsey's primary schools.

The education president Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen said she had discussed the logistics with her equivalent in Jersey where the scheme was introduced in December.

Dudley-Owen said a three course lunch costs parents £2.50 in Jersey which "wouldn't be prohibitive but would actually pay for itself in terms of health and social benefits".

She said recent findings that children at Guernsey's States-run schools were 70% more likely to be unhealthily overweight had informed her proposal.

'Behind the curve'

Dudley-Owen said: "We know the cheaper food available is most often the highly ultra-processed food which is now found to be not good for our bodies.

"We're trying to set children up to be the healthiest they can be," she added.

The education president said schools would not need to extend or change their buildings as in Jersey the meals were provided through "mini-pop-up canteens".

"Given that the UK has had school meals since 1906, we're over 100 years behind the curve on this.

"This is about doing the best we possibly can for our island's children," she added.