Healthy Eating Week 2022

Thousands of schools across the UK are participating in the British Nutrition Foundation’s Healthy Eating Week, a free annual event which provides evidence-based resources to help your whole school community improve its healthy eating habits, as well as its environmental footprint.

The week-long event, taking place 13-17 June 2022, aims to educate both teachers and students about sustainable food consumption, healthy eating habits and healthy lifestyles.

In England, 68.2 per cent of men and 60.4 per cent of women are classified as overweight or obese and over a quarter (25.5 per cent) of children aged 10-11 years are obese, with a further 15.4 per cent overweight, emphasising the pressing need for education around healthy eating. However, our dietary choices also have an impact on the environment and therefore, this year, the message for the 10th anniversary of Healthy Eating Week is ‘Eat well for you and the planet!’

Over the last decade, Healthy Eating Week has been instrumental in helping to educate and inspire young people to lead healthier lives by providing early years settings, primary and secondary schools with a wide range of free resources and activities based on five daily themes that can be practised anywhere.

This year’s themes also aim to highlight that small dietary changes can help us not only eat a healthier diet but also one that is more sustainable for the planet:
•    Monday 13 June: Focus on fibre – for meals and snacks
•    Tuesday 14 June: Get at least 5 A DAY – put plenty on your plate
•    Wednesday 15 June: Vary your protein – be more creative
•    Thursday 16 June: Stay hydrated – fill up from the tap
•    Friday 17 June: Reduce food waste – know your portions

Why get involved?

Since Healthy Eating Week launched a decade ago it has received over 58,300 registrations from schools and nurseries across the UK. By signing up for Healthy Eating Week, your school will be joining thousands of others communicating the value and importance of healthy eating and sustainable lifestyles, while gaining access to a wealth of free resources, including age appropriate activity packs, posters, health trackers, recipes and certificates. Resources are tailored for early years settings, primary schools and secondary schools to provide teachers with the opportunity and resources for teaching their pupils about healthier and more sustainable diets

Schools are also encouraged to engage their catering teams in the Healthy Eating Week activities taking place and to share the resources provided, helping to ensure the lessons and learnings from the Week can be practised throughout the full school year.

Additionally, Healthy Eating Week also aims to get parents involved through discussions with their children around developing healthier and more sustainable diets in practical ways such as substituting healthy snack choices in children’s lunchboxes and putting lessons learned into practice with their children in the kitchen at home.

Sara Stanner, Science Director at British Nutrition Foundation, said: “Healthy Eating Week provides a fantastic opportunity for schools to introduce healthy habits to not only their students, but the entire school community. By getting involved, teachers and school leaders can help us build a healthier future generation that are also aware of their responsibility towards the planet. Healthy Eating Week participation cultivates proactive conversations around health, sustainability and eating habits that don’t just stop at the school gates, but extend into homes everywhere, allowing everyone to support lasting change.”

How to get involved?

It’s quick and easy to sign-up for Healthy Eating Week – simply complete the registration form on the British Nutrition Foundation’s website to receive email updates and links to resources as they become available in the run up to June.

What to do after Healthy Eating Week

Healthy Eating Week acts as an annual reminder for students to question what’s on their plates and challenge where it comes from. It also enables teaching staff to build on the learning already taking place throughout the year, providing opportunities for discussions around the different food groups and what contributes to a healthy diet, motivating students with opportunities to prepare, cook and eat healthy dishes they can make themselves.  

The Healthy Eating Week resources are designed to provide information, guidance and tools to help schools tailor their own approaches to eating well and maintaining sustainable diets throughout the year.

Inspiring impactful, lasting, environmental change

Food production currently contributes to an estimated 37 per cent of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere and food waste accounts for up to 10 per cent of emissions globally, and students today are increasingly aware of the need to protect the environment and are interested in what they can do to make a positive difference.

Commenting on how this can be achieved, Sara Stanner said: “There are many food-based decisions we can make on a day-to-day basis to establish lasting change to help the environment. One example is our protein choices. While we don’t need to cut out meat entirely from our diets diversifying protein sources to include more plant foods such as pulses (beans, lentils and peas), nuts and seeds, can help to improve our own health and reduce our environmental footprint too.

“Healthy Eating Week aims to show children and young people that these simple yet impactful habits can help them adopt healthier and more sustainable diets both now and long into the future. We would encourage any school to sign up.”

To get your whole school community engaged and excited about healthy, sustainable eating, and to find out more about the British Nutrition Foundation’s Healthy Eating Week 2022, please click here.