Secondary pupils from Scotland's largest local authority are to be banned from leaving the school grounds during lunchtime under a radical pilot scheme to tackle Scotland's heathy eating crisis.
Secondary pupils from Scotland's largest local authority are to be banned from leaving the school grounds during lunchtime under a radical pilot scheme to tackle Scotland's heathy eating crisis.
From August next year, S1 pupils from eight schools in Glasgow could be required to stay on the premises and either bring their own lunch or buy food from the school canteen. In some cases, pupils will also be allowed to go home for lunch.
If the pilot is a success, it will be rolled out to S1 pupils in all Glasgow City Council secondary schools - and could even be extended to older pupils.
The move - which affects St Paul's High, Castlemilk High, Govan High, Whitehill Secondary, St Mungo's Academy, All Saints Secondary, Lochend Community High and St Thomas Aquinas - has been proposed by the council to tackle Scotland's fixation with junk food. One in five boys and more than one in seven girls aged two to 15 years old are now classed as obese.
Nutritional standards of school meals have improved dramatically in recent years, in line with Scottish Government targets, but the take-up of the new healthier menus has been slow, particularly in secondaries.
One of the main reasons for the slow uptake is that many pupils leave the school grounds at lunchtime to buy chips, burgers and pizzas from take-away shops or vans.
Gordon Matheson, Glasgow City Council's executive member for education, will state in a report to next Friday's executive committee that the aim of the pilot is to encourage healthier eating habits "by removing easy access to unhealthy food at lunchtime".
"There is little point in offering healthy lunches if thousands of our pupils leave school to buy chips from the local take-aways," he said.
"This measure proposes that, from August next year, there will be a presumption that S1 pupils stay within school grounds in eight secondary schools."
The council also believes the move will have a positive impact on the safety of children and could decrease bullying, which often takes place outside school grounds.
The council will also look at cracking down on the operation of burger vans close to schools after concerns from headteachers.
The report to the executive committee said: "The licensing and regulatory committee plans to bring forward options around restricting the trading of burger vans near schools."
