Healthy eating habits begin at home and can be reinforced at school, where students eat at least one meal or snack most days of the week. The provincial government’s Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in BC Schools provide a set of nutrition standards to help schools answer the question “what is healthy?” The Guidelines also assist providers of food and beverages to schools – caterers, parents, teachers, vendors and students themselves – in deciding what to sell.

Think of the Guidelines as one tool in a tool box that is used to build a healthy eating environment, one that supports students, staff and others to make healthy eating choices when at school. The Guidelines set B.C.’s standards for foods and beverages that are sold to students, in essence supporting the sale of healthy choices and restricting the sale of unhealthy choices. But a healthy eating environment is much more than this – it includes things like a clean, comfortable place and adequate time to eat lunch, water fountains, healthy foods at school celebrations and much more.

A number of resources have been developed to help schools and providers of food and beverages use the Guidelines and take other steps to build a healthy eating environment. The vast majority of these are featured on Making it Happen: Healthy Eating at School – http://www.healthyeatingatschool.ca www.healthyeatingatschool.ca

A few highlights include:

• The Brand Name Food List is a website that provides nutrition ratings for packaged and franchised foods and beverages and helps users find Choose Most and Choose Sometimes items that meet the Guidelines.

• Healthy Fundraising for Schools is a practical guide for parents and educators that describes fundraising activities that support healthy living and provide opportunities to be active and/or contribute to community service.

• Bake Better Bites: Recipes and Tips for Healthier Baked Goods is for parents, community volunteers, school staff and students who prepare baked goods that are sold to students. It includes recipes that meet the Guidelines, and tips for making favourite baked goods healthier. The recipes make tasty choices for classroom and school celebrations too.

• Tips and Recipes for Quantity Cooking: Nourishing Minds and Bodies is for people who prepare food for students. It includes more than 75 recipes from soups and salads to main courses that meet the Guidelines plus tips on how to choose healthy recipes and how to make favourite recipes healthier.

• Success Stories showcase healthy eating and healthy living activities that are taking place in schools around the province.

• Ideas for Action provide steps for all members of the school community to take in order to build and support a healthy nutrition environment.

Whether your school is in the early stages of making the healthy choice the easy choice, or is well on its way to making healthy eating at school the norm, you’re sure to find helpful information and resources at Making it Happen: Healthy Eating at School – http://www.healthyeatingatschool.ca

Andrea Ottem is a registered dietitian at Fraser Health. Questions about nutrition? Call HealthLinkBC at 8-1-1 and ask to speak to a registered dietitian.