School lunches can be a problem but Iva Pocock finds children who are more than willing to ditch the junk for the healthy option
Peer pressure is not to be underestimated when it comes to school lunches.
Why would any child want to be the only one who has a brown bread sandwich when everyone else has crisps? Beware the slagging over something fresh, unpackaged and free of fizz!
The trick, it seems, is to turn things on their head by making what's healthy cool, and what's junk a no-no.
Rathgar National School in Dublin seems to have achieved this turn-around judging by the earnest response of its older pupils to the question "do you eat healthy food?"
"I eat a sandwich, a piece of fruit and an Actimel for lunch," says 11-year-old Max Drakeford.
He knows it's nutritious because in addition to his Mum's advice he's seen "programmes that have actually told me what's healthy".
"I think it's good to eat fruit everyday and to stay away from fast food shops," he adds.
Like his classmates, Max has learnt a lot about nutrition in the past year, thanks to specific classes and a focus on healthy living.
"In the geography book there was a whole chapter on healthy eating," explains 12-year-old Ferdia O'Driscoll, who is sporting a green cast having broken his arm falling out of a bunk bed. "Soft drinks deplete your calcium so they're out for me," he says, pointing to his injured arm.
Although the school has no specific healthy eating policy, teachers promote healthy lunch boxes.
"We also ban fizzy drinks, colourful sticky bars and crisps," says vice-principal Sandra Adams.
Bethany Skuce (10) describes healthy eating as "not eating calories or lots of sugar" such as "a big slice of chocolate cake and 10 packets of crisps".
A banana a day is key to 12-year-old Leslie Cowan's healthy diet, while his favourite smoothie is strawberry, melon and lemon. He's also keen on carrots which are full of vitamin A to make you see in the dark, he explains.
His classmate Ellen Cosgrave (12) says healthy eating "is very good to keep fit, feel energetic and means you can concentrate".
But "using energy is as important as getting energy, otherwise you are left with loads of fat".
She's outspoken too about the advertising of junk food, describing it as "out of control. It's not being stopped enough."
"Yeah," says her classmate Katie O'Brien (12) in agreement, pointing out "you never see ads for fruit".
Their friend, Emma Boylan, outlines the importance of carefully reading lists of ingredients on packages.
"All the labels can make them (food products) sound like they are healthy, but if it has no sugar it can have lots of sweeteners," she says.
She is full of wisdon about the benefits of healthy eating at a young age: "You have to make good decisions early in life otherwise it's hard to catch up. You won't grow properly if you don't eat healthily."
Both Katie and Emma stress that it's possible to make healthy food taste nice. "Fruit can be just as nice as some of the sweets and chocolate," says Katie.
The way to boost the numbers of Irish children into healthy food is to provide extra-curricular healthy eating classses after school "so that everyone has the chance to learn about nutrition," says Emma. "They should be free because everyone deserves to know."
As to peer pressure, Katie reckons it's easier when more people are into healthy food. "It makes it more cool."
A winning recipe for success
Many schools are still struggling to promote the right kind of children's lunch but pupils in Rathgar National School, Dublin indicate the message is beginning to get through.
Many of them mention they've learned lots about healthy eating thanks to Katie O'Brien (12) winning last year's SparKids healthy eating competition.
It was just one element of the SparKids guide to healthy living teaching aid - a response to growing levels of obesity among school children.
One of 2,000 pupils from throughout the country who competed, Katie's winning lunch recipe consisted of:
A wrap filled with chicken, cucumber, lettuce and cheese; a small hummus dip with breadsticks, raw carrot and celery; a mixed fruit salad with a small pot of fruit bio-yoghurt; a pineapple and cherry smoothie and a bottle of water.
"I chose my really healthy lunch because the wrap was carbohydrate for energy," says Katie.
"It was filled with chicken for protein, cheese for calcium and the lettuce and cucumber were good sources of vitamins.
"The bio-yoghurt encourages good bacteria and the hummus dip, breadsticks, carrots and celery are all delicious but are still healthy and provide energy," she explains.
Thanks to her winning entry, the older children at Rathgar National School were treated to a Yummee party hosted by RTÉ Television's Aoileann Garavaglia which took place last Tuesday.
Much to their delight, they got to make scones and fruit punch.
Katie also enjoyed the pleasure of seeing her recipe produced into a leaflet and distributed throughout Spar stores in Dublin.