FOOD AND NUTRITION POLICY

At Noble Brains Academy, we affirm that healthy nutrition improves child well-being and learning ability, leading to better academic performance. Good nutrition also fosters mental, social and physical well-being, contributing to increased self-esteem and positive body image.

We are aware that healthy nutrition interventions need to occur early in childhood and adolescence in order to prevent or reverse the adverse health effects of stunting, wasting, overweight and poor eating habits.

Healthy food and improved nutrition is a high priority on the School agenda because of its positive effect on child well-being, and subsequent enhanced learning ability and academic performance. We on this note have the responsibility to provide an important opportunity for prevention of childhood malnutrition through the implementation of holistic policy to guide and support school staff, parents/carers, families and community members.

As improved school health is achieved by the development of appropriate food and nutrition policy, this policy aims at:

Providing a key environmental setting in which to facilitate actions that promote healthy choices as a norm.
Establishing a whole school approach to health and a concrete food and nutrition actions that bring not only bring short-term improvements in the daily lives of our pupils, but also establish healthy attitudes that prevents the onset of malnutrition and chronic disease in later life.
Institutionalising a whole-school approach to healthy eating habit that provides pupils with both the opportunity to learn food and nutrition skills and how best to implement them within and outside the school setting.
Supporting teachers with training opportunities that improve their knowledge and skills in food education.

Our responsibilities:

We have the responsibilities to:

Institutionalise school-based nutrition awareness messaging that is consistent, mutually reinforcing and reflected throughout our curriculum.
Introduce systematic programmes that contribute to knowledge of nutrition and healthy eating.
Ensure well-informed teachers and staff involved in food and nutrition education through training and retraining programmes that improve their knowledge, confidence and competence to effectively guide pupils on nutrition and healthy eating.
Implement curriculum that covers several broad categories like nutrition and personal health; food preparation, preservation and storage; consumer awareness and rights and media literacy; food and emotional development; food production, processing and distribution, sustainability and ecology.
Ensure free access to water and promote regular intake throughout the school day, to enhance better concentration and avert distraction caused by feelings of dehydration—thirst, tiredness and irritability.

Educate pupils to read nutrient content tables on packaging, to develop an understanding of the variation in nutrient content and energy density of foods, as well as of their own daily requirements.
Create a relaxed and friendly social environment for healthy eating with adequate time for eating on our daily routine; and ensure every pupil eats what is appropriate.
Nurture pupils to acquire healthy life skills specific to nutrition communication skills to persuade parents and friends to make healthy food choices; and advocacy skills to present messages of healthy nutrition to others and gain support of influential adults.
Ensure development is monitored and provide regular feedback to parents/carers.

Responsibilities of parents/carers:

Parents and carers have the responsibilities to:

Support school-based initiatives targeted at food and nutrition for lasting effect on pupils’ health.
Provide nutritious meals (including fruits/vegetables) that have been prepared under hygienic condition for the pupils.
Ensure pupils come to school with clean cutlery, regularly sterilised water bottles and sizeable cups in their lunch bags.

Teachers’ responsibilities:

Teachers have the responsibilities to:

Model healthy eating habits by consuming healthy foods and beverages.
Drink water in front of the pupils to model healthy beverage choices.
Participate in nutrition education classroom tasting activities.
Plan and conduct taste tests of fruits and vegetables with pupils on a regular basis.
Share positive, out-of-the-classroom, healthy eating experiences with pupils.
Discuss the benefits of healthy food choices with pupils during snack and meal times.
Avoid rewarding pupils with food.
Eat lunch in the cafeteria with pupils.
Ensure pupils take water regularly through the day.
Ensure pupils’ lunch bags are securely placed in the lunch bag cabinets provided in each classroom.

Encourage pupils to bring healthy foods to eat that day.
Provide each pupil with adequate time to eat.
Ensure pupils do not eat what is inappropriate or considered prohibited meals in the school.
Ensure every cafeteria facility provided by the school is fully utilised by the pupils.
Monitor pupil eating habit and make recommendations to parents/carers.
Implement curriculum and support systematic programmes that contribute to knowledge of nutrition and healthy eating among pupils.
Participate actively in capacity building programmes targeted at improving teachers’ knowledge, confidence and competence to effectively guide pupils on nutrition and healthy eating.

Prohibited meals in our school:

Teachers have the responsibilities to:

Processed meat
Swallow with soup
Instant noodles
Chocolate bars
Chocolate spread
Sweets
Spoiled food
Soft drinks

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nobleschools.edu.ng@gmail.com