LACA becomes a Change4Life partner

21st October 2009, 2:54pm

The Local Authority Caterers Association (LACA) has been officially accepted by the Government as a Change4Life Partner with immediate effect.

LACA now joins a long line up of high profile Partners including Kellogg's, ASDA and Tesco.

Change4Life is a Department of Health sponsored initiative which revolves around encouraging the general public to adopt healthier lifestyles by eating better and taking more exercise.

One of the key Campaign messages is about eating 'one regular meal' every day. Eating school lunch is an easy way for children and young people to have a regular, nutritious meal which can also contribute at least two of the recommended five-a-day fruit and vegetable portions.

Change4Life works closely with the DCSF, the School Food Trust and the National Healthy Schools Programme as well as other key children's agencies to promote the benefits of healthy food in and out of school as well as the importance of physical activity.

Being a Change4Life Partner entitles LACA to carry the Campaign logo on key LACA activities such as National School Meals Week (9 – 13 November 2009) and School Chef of the Year as well as to have a direct link to the Change4Life website from both the LACA and National School Meals Week websites.

LACA has also committed to establishing a specific Change4Life Award as part of the 2010 Annual Awards scheme and for Change4Life to have a significant presence at the 2010 Conference next year.

Commenting on the new Partnership, Beverley Baker, Chairman, Local Authority Cateres Association said: "Being accepted as a Change4Life Partner is a strong endorsement of the role school meal providers play in the collective effort to improve the eating habits and lifestyles of young people.

"With the high public awareness of the Change4Life campaign messages such as the importance of 'one regular meal' a day, more and more parents will increasingly recognize the nutritional value of a school lunch for their children. School meals are integral in the drive towards reducing obesity and ultimately, future NHS bills."

Related Articles:

• 09 Nov 2009 - Colin Jackson reveals Britain's favourite school meal
• 03 Nov 2009 - New data suggests child obesity may be levelling off
• 04 Sep 2009 - Pupils can vote online for favourite school meal
• 22 Jul 2009 - School lunch 'fresh better than frozen' claim misconceived
• 15 Jul 2009 - Beverley Baker returns as LACA chair
• 09 Jul 2009 - Get involved in National School Meals Week
• 09 Jul 2009 - School meals take-up sees marginal increase

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David Knapman

23 October 2009 at 3:51pm

This is good news for LACA and can certainly only help the caterers in local authorities but preaching to children and parents will only achieve so much and I think that we still need to involve educationalists more. Telling kids that their school meal is two of their 5-a-day is not as beneficial as those kids understanding why 5-a-day is good for them.

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