Games help pupils to eat healthily

PROJECT

Veggie Run

FUNDING

It is funded by HES Catering Services, the in-house catering service for the London Borough of Havering, from revenue generated by catered school lunches. Prizes have been sponsored by Everyone Active, part of leisure contractor Sports and Leisure Management, Quorn, Cycles UK Romford, Havering Sports Collective and sQuid

BACKGROUND

Nearly a fifth of all five-year-olds in Havering have tooth decay, largely as a result of consuming too much sugar. One in five children in the borough start school overweight or obese, and in year 6 this rises to one in three.

To reverse these trends, Havering Council was keen to promote healthy eating to schoolchildren. Given only a tiny minority of packed lunches have been found to meet government nutrition criteria, it wanted to encourage the take-up of healthier catered school meals.

ACTION

The council created the Veggie Run app to promote healthy eating to primary school children. Local children were involved in the development of the app, which is aimed at four- to 11-year-olds and features specially-created "Crunch Bunch" characters. The game was piloted with pupils at Engayne Primary School in Upminster.

The app includes a game in which children dodge unhealthy foods and earn rewards by collecting fruit and vegetables. Players compete to win sports-related prizes for their schools and for themselves. Users are able to view their weekly school lunch menus and parents can purchase school meal credit via app links. Pupils can also receive credit towards free lunches for a week from cashless payment company sQuid or a new bike.

"Veggie Run aims to get children excited about healthier eating choices and fitness through sporty prize-based games," says Dennis Brewin, head of HES Catering Services. "All Crunch Brunch characters in Veggie Run are used across all new primary school menus in the borough to ensure children see the direct link between game play and healthy eating."

OUTCOME

An evaluation carried out by HES Catering Services found school meal uptake has increased by 12 per cent since the launch of Veggie Run in comparison to the same period during 2017. Seventy per cent of schools are promoting the app on Havering Council's behalf, and there were 1,000 downloads within the first two weeks of launching. The council has so far awarded 20 bikes to children.