Education Week is about to end but debate about how to teach good eating habits to students will continue.

As the Education Minister plates up healthy lunches, calls continue for the government to serve up more lessons in nutrition.

Karin Adam reports.

TRANSCRIPT

To mark Parent and Citizens Day, the Minister took part in a wrap challenge in Brisbane, the healthy-eating variety.

He says the right foods are now in canteens thanks to the Smart Choice food guide brought in four years ago.

Tuckshops are usually run by P&C associations and are the organisations’ biggest earner.

Cameron Dick, Qld Education Minister: “We’ve done a big shift recently and that is to deliver healthy food for Queensland schools.”

The Minister says canteens can help lay the foundations for life-long positive food choices.

The president of the state’s tuckshop association agrees “smart choices” are being made in school canteens.

Lorie Robinson, President, Qld Association of School Tuckshops: “We’ve gone from lollies, soft drinks, doughnuts, cream buns, you know, to healthy wraps.”

But Lorie Robinson says the government could do more.

As a former home economics teacher, she says students are missing out on a vital slice of education.

Lorie Robinson, President, Qld Association of School Tuckshops: “They don’t know how to cook, they don’t know how to choose healthy foods so a good place to start would be in the schools.”

The Minister says the government does value education and this is reflected in their spending.

Cameron Dick, Qld Education Minister: “I mean, we spend $10 billion a year on Education and Training in Queensland. It’s a quarter of the state budget.”

But debate continues if that money could be better spent. One lesson coming out of education week is that more healthy eating initiatives are needed in the classroom.

Karin Adam, QUT News.