Schools in England should be banned from giving pupils cakes or biscuits as part of their lunch because they contain so much sugar, food campaigners say.
They want ministers to overhaul the rules that guide schools on the nutritional content of the meals they serve to outlaw such sugary snacks.
The call has come from Action on Sugar, a group of nutritionists and other health experts at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), who campaign on the health dangers of too much sugar.
At the moment schools are allowed under the school food standards to give pupils desserts, cakes and biscuits as part of the lunch they receive on the premises. They include sweet treats that are either bought in or made from scratch, such as cakes, buns, pastries and scones.
Action on Sugar made its plea after an analysis it undertook of the sugar content of dozens of cakes, chocolates and biscuits that have as much as 12 teaspoons in them. For example, Ritter Sport marzipan has 51g per packet while the same firm’s whole hazelnuts and white whole hazelnuts contain 44g, the equivalent of 11 teaspoonfuls.
“These findings reinforce the urgent need for a complete ban on cakes and biscuits currently permitted under the school food standards at lunchtime, as they are unlikely to align with current maximum sugar guidelines,” said Dr Kawther Hashem, a lecturer in public health nutrition at QMUL and Action on Sugar’s head of research and impact.
“We have a duty to every child to make every school a sanctuary from unnecessary sugar, so they can grow up healthier, stronger and free from the risks of diet-related disease.”
The campaign group added that “the school food standards may be driving children to exceed their daily sugar limits by allowing cakes and biscuits at lunchtime”. Ministers should also extend the sugar tax from soft drinks to other highly sugared products, such as confectionery, it added.
It said a child who had a cake at lunchtime, a chocolate bar on the way home from school and two biscuits after dinner could consume as much as 23 spoonfuls of sugar by doing so.
A government spokesperson said: “We encourage all schools to promote healthy eating and provide nutritious food and drink, and recently launched new training for school governors to increase their understanding of School Food Standards and make sure children have access to nutritious food throughout the school day.
“More widely, we are determined to create the healthiest generation of children in our history by shifting our focus from treatment to prevention, including by limiting school children’s access to fast food.”