Nanny knows best says TV chef Jamie
Ministers ‘should intervene’ on food
HEALTH: Britain should be a “nanny state” about food to ensure children are healthy, says Jamie Oliver who insists healthy eating is a public health issue.
He made a fresh call for a 20 per cent tax on sugary drinks and warned that the UK is the unhealthiest country in Europe, with children likely to live a shorter life than their parents.
BRITAIN SHOULD be a “nanny state” about food to ensure children are healthy, according to Jamie Oliver.
The celebrity chef said the nation has come a long way, but dietrelated diseases are still a major concern and healthy eating, especially for youngsters, is a public health issue.
He made a fresh call for a 20 per cent tax on sugary drinks and warned that parents should find it uncomfortable that the UK is the unhealthiest country in Europe, with children likely to live a shorter life than their mothers and fathers.
As part of his Food Revolution Day, Oliver is leading a campaign for all G20 nations – which include the UK – to make practical food education a compulsory part of the school curriculum.
A change.org petition warning that the world is facing a global obesity epidemic, with 42 million youngsters under five classed as overweight or obese, has already gathered more than 1.2 million signatures. “I think a parent’s job is to say no, a parent’s job is to be nanny,” he said, adding that when he was working with then Labour prime minister Tony Blair on school dinners 10 years ago there was an obsession with “we don’t want to be nanny state”.
“No, at the right time we do have to be nanny state – we love, we take care, we nurture,” the chef said. “School dinners was all about love and taking care. We didn’t have standards. There were standards for dog food, but not kids’ food. It’s 2015, it’s 10 years on, the story continues.”
Under the current system, practical cooking is a compulsory part of the curriculum for schools in England up to age 14. However, academies and free schools – which are state schools free from local council control – do not have to follow the national curriculum. A new GCSE in cooking and nutrition is also being brought in.
Oliver said the British Government had “come a long way” with other nations now learning about food service from UK schools.
He argued that parents can help their children stay healthy and should have support to do so.
But he added: “Food education still remains important because we’ve got two, three generations of parents who maybe never grew up in a house where they were taught to cook, or taught at school either.
“This is probably the first generation where kids might teach the parents about food and where it comes from and how it affects their body.... It is now law in Britain to have food education and we should be very proud of that.
“But now I’ve won that minibattle in Britain, and of course this campaign is about the world, this petition is still important to sign because I need to show David Cameron that this is really, really important, that if he doesn’t help the flow of enthusiasm, we’re going to make his life a bit awkward.”
At the right time we do have to be a nanny state. We love, we care. TV chef and food campaigner Jamie Oliver.