The Food Standards Agency in Scotland is inviting tenders for a project to explore the influence of deprivation and the food environment on the food and drink bought by 13-15 year olds at lunchtime outside schools.
The project will gather information on the types of food and drinks bought by secondary school pupils at lunchtime beyond the school gate, and how this varies with deprivation and how the type of sales outlet influences what food and drink is bought.
The findings will be used to inform Scottish public health policy about the retail and catering food and drink landscape around schools. It may also provide supplementary data for the provision of guidance to retailers and caterers on the marketing and promotion of foods to secondary school pupils.
The announcement of this tender comes 10 days after the independent School Food Plan was published, which examined school food habits in England and made a series of recommendations, including the banning of packed lunches, ahead of a series of pilots in schools to boost the levels of healthy eating in schools later this year.
