Meet-a-celebrity scheme to get schoolchildren off the pies

SCHOOLCHILDREN could meet celebrities from their favourite TV shows if they avoid burger vans and chip shops at lunch, as part of a radical SNP plan to fight obesity.

Ministers want to persuade pupils to improve their diets by offering a rewards scheme that gives them access to VIPs.

Choosing healthy options in local shops will earn prizes, which include socialising with famous pop stars and actors from shows such as Made in Chelsea or The Only Way is Essex.

Most secondary school canteens are now cashless, with children using a microchipped Young Scot Card to pay for their purchases.

The system allows them to gather reward points for volunteering and joining sports clubs. In Glasgow, pupils can earn shopping vouchers for choosing fruit and soup.

Now the Scottish Government wants to extend the scheme into neighbourhoods surrounding schools.

The policy document states: ‘Example rewards include backstage interviews with celebrities, tickets to cultural or sporting events, discounted driving lessons and unique work-shadowing opportunities.’ But last night National Obesity Forum spokesman Tam Fry said: ‘For how long will a boy who eats pies have to switch to florets of broccoli simply to meet somebody off the X Factor?

‘What then? Another hero or back to pies? It will probably be the latter.

‘A better use of resources would be to ensure schoolchildren were offered daily tasty and nutritious meals in-house.’