"We must stop serving our children heart disease on a plate" - German

5.46.45pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 24th May 2006

Mike German will make a heart felt plea for concerted action to tackle obesity in our children and put healthy eating at the heart of learning today.

Mike German enjoying lunch with Monmouthshire school children

Giving the keynote address to a conference at the Welsh College of Horticulture, Flintshire, Mr German will call for tough new regulations to protect children from harmful foods, and a promotional programme to ensure more children eat healthier school meals. Mr German was invited to give the address as a result of his work on a groundbreaking farm-to-fork project in Monmouthshire primary schools.

Mr German will say. "Regulations for school meals are risible. And I'm ashamed to say I voted for them when they came to the Assembly in 2001. All they regulate is that there should be a vegetable; there should be meat or fish; and there should be fruit or fruit juice.

"There is nothing about fat content, nothing about sugar or salt content, nothing about freshness or vitamins or seasonality. These regulations are failing our children, and putting many on the path to obesity.

"In the short term obesity means bullying in school. In the longer term it can lead to heart disease, strokes and diabetes. I know from my own experience that it is not easy to lose excess weight in later life. It requires great self-discipline, and an ability to say 'no' to things you enjoy. It is far better that our children never get fat. At present, in many cases, we are serving our children diabetes and heart disease on a plate."

Mr German will highlight some of the key facts:

37% of Welsh children are overweight

52% of Welsh children have tooth decay

5% of Welsh public expenditure is spent on food

Of this, 80% is spent on processed food

At least half of all food is sourced from outside Wales

. He will call for action to undo some of the negative image of school meals, and urge politicians to tear up the current regulations in favour of

"Jamie Oliver did a great service in highlighting the poor quality of many dinners. But the down side is that now, there are many parents who will not encourage their children to eat them. We need to reach out to parents and reassure them that they can get a 'square meal'. And we need to market them to children so they see them as 'cool' rather than 'square'.

"We need to reconnect school meals with the wider curriculum - so children understand that vegetables grow in the ground, and meat comes from animals on farms. And we must encourage local farms to develop their potential as suppliers, and encourage contract managers to use home-grown resources.

"As politicians we have to clear up the legislation on school meals - put nutrition at a premium. And ban fizzy drinks and high fat snacks - and the vending machines which distribute them - from our schools. We can put greater emphasis on food standards and traceability. All this needs to be backed up with the money to make it happen.

"Wales is a small country. This means that we never have to go far to work with one another to make things better. We owe it to our children to give them the best start in life, and the tools to live a healthy, productive and fulfilling life. We must avoid the mistakes of the past, to give our children the best chances for the future."

Notes:

Mike German AM will be giving the keynote speech to the morning session of the Growing the Future conference on May 25. The conference will take place at the Welsh College of Horticulture, Flintshire.