The food and drink industry often has to reiterate that a ‘joined up approach’ is more beneficial than the demonisation of sugar, for example, or the food industry as a whole, when tackling the childhood obesity issue.

As director general of the UK’s Food and Drink Federation Ian Wright has previously said, “Obesity will only be beaten by a national partnership involving government, the NHS and health professionals, schools, retailers, restaurants and food and drink manufacturers.”

In light of this, last week’s launch by the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) of a professional development nutrition platform for primary school teachers is a welcome contribution to the desired collaborative approach.

The launch comes in response to the results of research which shows that teachers are getting little training in the area of nutrition; yet poor nutrition and an unhealthy lifestyle are considered detrimental to academic performance as well as health.

Roy Ballam, managing director and head of education at the BNF, says, “It is critical that teachers lay the foundations for children to make good dietary and lifestyle choices now and as adults. But most primary teachers have received virtually no formal training in food, nutrition and physical activity. It is because of this that the BNF believes that there is an urgent need to support these teachers during their training and when they are practicing.”