§ 51. Mr. Ray Powellasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will earmark additional finance for local education authorities for publicising nutrition problems and promoting healthy eating in schools.
§ Mr. Chris PattenNo. The level of resources for the provision of education about nutrition and related matters is for local education authorities to determine within the total resouces available to them.
§ 57. Mr. Ashtonasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he intends to take to seek to ensure that local education authorities act on the findings of the recent reports by the National Advisory Committee on Nutrition Education and the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food.
§ Mr. Chris PattenEarlier this year a discussion paper by Her Majesty's Inspectorate, "Home Economics from 5 to 16", was given wide circulation. It drew attention to the importance of developing healthy attitudes and behaviour in relation to nutrition and included reference to the dietary advice contained in the report of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy (COMA). The Department has also drawn the attention of the school examining boards to the COMA report and asked that they take its recommendations into account in their home economics syllabuses. It is for individual local education authorities to determine their response to nationally-available guidance on nutrition.